BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


k" 


THE   JOURNEY 


OF 


MONGACHT-APE, 


BY 


ANDREW  McFARLAlSTD  DAYIS. 


THE    JOURNEY 


OF 


MONCACHT-APE, 


AN  INDIAN  OF  THE  TAZOO  TRIBE, 


ACEOSS  THE  CONTINENT,  ABOUT  THE  YEAK  1700. 


BY 


ANDREW  McFARLAND  DAVIS. 


[FBOM  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ANTIQCABIAN  SOCIETY,  APBIL  25, 1888.] 


WORCESTEE,  MASS.,  U.  S.  A.: 

PRINTED    BY    CHARLES    HAMILTON, 

No.  311   MAIN   STREET. 

1883. 


THE  JOURNEY  OF  MONCACHT-APE. 


IN  the  autumn  of  1718  M.  LePage  du  Pratz  landed  in  America.  In 
•company  with  about  eight  hundred  others  forwarded  by  the  "  Company 
of  the  West "  he  had  come  to  this  country  to  settle.  He  first  located 
near  New  Orleans,  where  Bienville  was  then  just  starting  a  new  settle- 
ment, but  the  situation  of  his  grant  proving  unhealthy,  he  shortly  after- 
wards moved  up  to  Natchez.  There  he  secured  a  farm,  on  which  he 
spent  eight  of  the  sixteen  years  he  was  in  this  country.  He  had  served 
in  the  army  in  Germany  and  had  received  a  fair  education.  He  was  of 
a  speculative  turn  of  mind,  fond  of  theorizing  and  always  on  the  alert 
for  information.  While  at  Natchez  he  collected  and  transmitted  to 
Paris  no  less  than  three  hundred  plants  used  by  the  Indians  as  remedies. 
He  cultivated  the  friendship  of  his  Indian  neighbors  and  studied  their 
habits  and  their  language.  In  1758  he  published  at  Paris  his  "  Histoire 
•de  la  Louisiane,"  in  which  in  addition  to  the  personal  experiences  and 
observations  there  recorded  he  has  treasured  up  much  that  he  garnered 
from  conversations  with  the  old  men  of  the  tribes  concerning  the  tradi- 
tions of  their  origin,  their  religion  and  their  forms  of  government. 

The  importance  attached  to  one  of  these  conversations  by  M.  de 
Quatrefages,  in  an  article  in  the  Revue  d'  Anthropologie, l  is  the  occa- 
sion of  this  paper.  The  story  of  Moncacht-Ape's  journey  across  the 
continent  and  of  his  encounter  with  the  bearded  white  men  on  the 
North  Pacific  Coast  of  this  country,  has,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
slumbered  in  the  pages  of  LePage  du  Pratz  until  it  was  revived  by  de 
Quatrefages,  who  takes  pride  in  the  thought  that  he  is,  as  he  believes, 
the  first  to  call  attention  to  its  importance. 

To  understand  the  merit  of  the  arguments  upon  which  he  bases  his 
faith  in  the  story,  it  is  essential  that  the  whole  of  the  story  should  be 
read,  otherwise  one  can  neither  appreciate  the  importance  attached  to 
the  verisimilitude  of  its  style,  nor  measure  the  value  of  the  coincidences 
between  the  statements  of  the  Indian  concerning  this  unknown  region 
and  the  facts  as  revealed  by  Lewis  and  Clark  and  other  subsequent 
explorers. 

We  turn  therefore  to  the  pages  of  LePage  du  Pratz2  and  allow  him  to 
introduce  the  story  in  his  own  words  : — 

"  When  the  Natchez  came  to  the  part  of  America  in  which  I  found 
them  there  were  several  tribes  living  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi 

1  Eevue  d'Anthropologie.    Tome  4me.     1881. 

*  Histoire  de  la  Louisiane,  par  M.  LePage  du  Pratz,  Paris,  1758,  v.  III., 
p.  87  et  seq. 


They  called  each  other  Red  Men,  and  their  origin  is  extremely  difficult 
to  discover,  for  they  have  not,  like  the  Natchez,  preserved  their  tradi- 
tions nor  have  they  arts  and  sciences  like  the  Mexicans,  from  which  one 
can  draw  inductions.  The  only  thing  to  be  learned  from  them  is,  what 
they  invai'iably  say,  that  they  came  from  the  North- West,  and  the  spot 
that  they  point  out  with  their  fingers,  no  matter  where  they  may  be  at  the 
time,  should  be  about  fifty-five  degrees  of  latitude.  This  meagre  infor- 
mation not  being  satisfactory  to  me,  I  made  inquiry,  if  among  the  neigh- 
boring tribes  there  was  not  some  wise  old  man  who  could  enlighten  me  fur- 
ther on  this  point.  I  was  extremely  rejoiced  to  learn  that  in  the  nation 
of  the  Yazoos,  at  a  distance  of  forty  leagues  from  Natchez,  such  an  one 
could  be  found.  His  name  was  Moncacht-Ape.  He  was  a  man  of  cour- 
age and  spirit.  I  can  do  no  better  than  compare  him  to  the  early 
Greeks,  who  travelled  among  the  Eastern  people  to  examine  the  man- 
ners and  customs  of  the  different  countries  and  then  returned  to  com- 
municate what  they  had  learned  to  their  countrymen.  Not  that  Mon- 
cacht-Ape actually  carried  out  such  a  project  as  this,  but  he  conceived 
the  idea  and  did  what  he  could  to  carry  it  out.  I  took  advantage  of  a 
visit  that  was  paid  me  by  this  native  of  the  Yazoo  Nation,  called  by  the 
French  '  the  interpreter'  because  he  speaks  so  many  Indian  languages, 
but  knoAvn  among  his  own  people,  as  I  have  already  said,  as  Moncacht- 
Ap6,  which  means  '  one  who  kills  difficulties  or  fatigue.'  In  fact,  the 
travels  of  many  years  did  not  affect  his  physique.  I  begged  him  to  re- 
peat to  me  an  account  of  his  travels,  omitting  nothing.  My  proposition 
seemed  to  please  him.  I  shall  make  our  traveller  speak  in  the  first  per- 
son, but  I  shall  abridge  his  voyage  to  the  Eastern  Coast,  because  he 
speaks  there  largely  of  Canada  which  is  very  well  known.  I  shall  only 
report  what  there  was  in  it  of  importance.  He  began  as  follows  : — 

"  '  I  had  lost  my  wife,  and  the  children  that  I  had  by  her  were  dead 
before  her,  when  I  undertook  my  trip  to  the  country  where  the  sun 
rises.  I  left  my  village  notwithstanding  all  my  relations.  I  was  ta 
take  counsel  with  the  Chickasaws,  our  friends  and  neighbors.  I  re- 
mained some  days  to  find  out  if  they  knew  whence  we  all  came,  or  at 
least,  if  they  knew  whence  they  themselves  came :  they  who  are  our 
ancestors,  since  it  is  from  them  that  the  language  of  the  people  comes ; 
but  they  could  teach  me  nothing  new.  For  this  reason  I  resolved  to  go 
to  the  nations  on  the  coast  w'here  the  sun  rises,  to  learn  about  them, 
and  to  know  if  their  old  language  was  the  same.  They  taught  me  the 
route  that  I  must  take,  in  order  to  avoid  the  large  villages  of  the  whites 
for  fear  that  they  might  be  angry  to  see  me — me  a  stranger.  I  reached 
the  country  of  the  Shawnees,  the  point  where  I  was  to  take  up  the 
river  Wabash  (Ohio),  and  I  followed  it  up  nearly  to  its  source  which  is 
in  the  country  of  the  Iroquois.  but  I  left  them  to  the  side  of  the  cold 
[north]  and  I  went  into  a  village  of  the  Abenaquais  which  was  in  my 
route.  I  remained  there  until  the  cold  weather,  which  in  this  country 
is  very  severe  and  very  long,  was  over.  During  this  winter  I  gained 
the  friendship  of  a  man  a  little  older  than  myself,  who  was  equally  fond 
of  travelling.  He  promised  to  come  with  me  and  to  conduct  me,  be- 
cause he  knew  the  way,  to  the  Great  Water  which  I  wished  to  see  since 
I  had  heard  it  talked  about.  As  soon  as  the  snows  were  melted  and  the 
weather  settled,  I  started  with  him  and  we  avoided  the  Indian  settle- 
ments. We  rested  frequently  on  the  way,  because  this  country  is  full 
of  stones  which  made  our  feet  sore,  especially  mine,  being  unaccustomed 
to  anything  of  the  sort.  After  having  travelled  several  days  we  saw 
the  Great  Water.  When  I  saw  it  I  was  so  content  that  I  could  not 
speak,  and  my  eyes  seemed  to  me  to  be  too  small  to  look  at  it  at  my 
ease,  but  night  overtook  us  and  we  encamped  near  at  hand,  upon  an 
elevation.  The  water  was  near  but  below  us.  The  wind  was  high  and 


-without  doubt  vexed  the  Great  Water,  for  it  made  so  much  noise  that 
J  could  not  sleep.  I  feared  that  the  blows  that  it  gave  would  break 
down  the  height  where  we  were,  although  it  was  of  stone. 

"  '  The  sun  had  not  appeared  when  I  rose  to  see  the  Great  Water.  I 
was  much  surprised  to  see  that  it  was  far.  away.  I  was  a  long  time 
without  speaking  to  my  comrade,  who  thought  from  seeing  me  all  the 
time  looking  about  and  not  speaking  that  I  had  lost  my  wits.  I  could 
not  understand  how  this  could  be.  Finally,  the  wind  having  ceased,  the 
sun  arose.  The  Great  Water  was  not  so  much  disturbed  as  it  Avas  on 
the  preceding  night,  and  I  saw  with  surprise  that  it  returned  towards 
us.  I  sprang  up  quickly  and  fled  with  all  my  strength.  My  comrade 
called  out  to  me  not  to  be  afraid.  I  shouted  to  him,  on  my  part,  that 
-the  Great  Water  was  coming  towards  us  and  that  we  should  be  drowned. 
He  then  reassured  me,  saying  that  the  red  men  who  had  seen  the  Great 
Water  had  observed  that  it  always  advanced  as  much  as  it  receded,  but 
that  it  never  came  farther  up  on  the  earth  at  one  time  than  another. 
When  he  had  thus  satisfied  me  we  returned  to  the  shore  of  the  Great 
Water,  and  remained  there  until  the  middle  of  the  day  when  I  saw  it, 
receding,  go  afar  off.  We  left  to  go  to  sleep  far  oft"  from  the  noise, 
which  followed  me  even' where,  and  even  till  evening  I  spoke  of  nothing 
else  to  my  comrade.  We  arrived  at  the  banks  of  a  little  river,  where  we 
lay  down  to  rest,  but  I  thought  of  it  all  the  night.  We  retook  the  route 
that  we  had  followed  in  going  and  arrived  at  his  home,  where  they 
were  glad  to  see  us. 

"  '  This  village  is  in  the  country  at  some  distance  from  the  Great 
Water  whence  we  had  come,  and  they  had  not  seen  it  except  between  the 
lands  where  the  great  river  of  the  country  loses  itself.  In  this  region 
where  they  had  seen  it,  it  advances  and  recedes,  but  much  less  than  in 
the  place  where  we  had  seen  it.  These  people  believe  that  the  Great 
Water  over  which  the  French  come  with  their  floating  villages,  which 
the  winds  move  by  puffing  out  the  great  sails  which  they  bear,  they 
believe,  I  say,  that  this  Great  Water  was  like  several  Great  Waters  that 
they  have  in  their  country  which  are  surrounded  with  land  and  of  which 
the  water  is  good  to  drink,  in  place  of  which  that  where  we  were  is  salt 
and  bitter.  I  know  it  because  I  put  some  of  it  in  my  mouth.  More- 
over the  French  say  it  takes  more  than  two  moons  to  come  to  our 
country,  whereas  the  Great  Waters  of  their  country  can  be  crossed  in 
two  or  three,  or  at  most  in  four  days  for  the  largest,  and  all  that  I  have 
seen  agrees  with  what  the  French  have  told  me,  that  this  water  touches 
all  lands  and  is  as  large  as  the  earth. 

"  '  They  listened  to  me  with  pleasure  for  a  long  time,  and  an  old  man 
who  was  there  told  me  that  he  had  been  in  a  place  where  the  great  river 
of  their  country  [St.  Lawrence]  precipitated  itself  from  so  high  and 
with  so  much  noise  that  it  could  be  heard  a  half  day's  journey  distant ; 
that  as  I  was  curious,  I  should  do  well  to  see  this  place  when  the  cold 
weather  should  be  over.  I  resolved  to  go  there.  I  told  my  comrade  who 
had  accompanied  me  to  the  Great  Water,  and  he  promised  to  go  with 
me.  I  had  in  truth  a  great  desire  to  see  this  place  which  seemed  worthy  to 
be  seen.  I  passed  the  winter  in  this  place  and  was  very  impatient  because 
it  was  long.  It  is  impossible  to  hunt  except  with  rackets  on  the  feet,  to 
get  accustomed  to  which  caused  me  much  trouble.  This  is  unfortunate, 
for  the  country  is  good.  Finally,  the  winter  being  over,  the  snow 
melted,  the  weather  good,  and  our  provisions  prepared,  we  packed  our 
bundles,  and  my  comrade  took  a  hatchet,  with  the  use  of  which  he  was 
familiar.  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  making  me  a  dug-out,  upon  which, 
following  the  counsel  that  was  given  me,  I  should  embark  upon  the  river 
Ohio,  as  it  is  called  in  this  country,  the  Wabash  as  we  call  it,  and  by 
this  means  I  could  return  to  my  village  more  easily  and  in  less  time  than 


if  I  should  return  on  foot.  We  departed  then  and  travelled  for  several 
days  before  finding  the  great  river  of  that  country.  We  did  not  lack 
for  meat  on  our  route.  There  is  an  abundance  of  buffaloes  and  also  of 
other  game,  but  as  these  animals  have  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  live 
while  snow  is  on  the  ground  they  were  not  yet  fat.  When  we  had  arrived 
upon  the  banks  of  this  great  river,  we  rested.  The  next  day  we 
travelled  with  the  current  of  the  water,  for  we  were  too  high  up  for 
the  place  that  we  came  to  see.  Following  what  had  been  told  us,  we 
could  not  be  deceived  in  finding  this  water-fall,  for  one  hears  the  noise 
from  afar,  as  we  discovered  on  our  approach.  We  passed  the  night 
where  the  noise  was  already  strong,  but  not  enough  to  hinder  us  from 
sleeping.  As  soon  as  day  broke  we  departed  for  this  place  of  which  all 
men  speak  with  wonder.  Fortunately  an  old  man  had  induced  us  to  take, 
before  leaving  the  village,  some  buffalo's  wool  to  put  in  our  ears ;  with- 
out that  we  should  truly  have  become  deaf  through  the  great  noise  made 
by  this  water  in  falling  from  so  high.  I  had  never  been  able  to  believe 
what  the  old  man  had  told  me,  but  when  my  eyes  and  my  senses  beheld, 
I  thought  he  had  not  said  enough  for  that  which  my  eyes  saw. 

"  '  This  river  does  not  fall.  It  is  as  if  it  were  cast,  the  same  as  when 
an  arrow  falls  to  the  ground.  This  sight  made  my  hair  stand  on  end  and 
my  flesh  creep.  Nevertheless,  after  having  looked  for  a  sufficiently  long 
time,  my  heart  which  had  been  agitated  became  quiet.  As  soon  as  I 
perceived  it  was  quiet  I  spoke  to  myself  and  said,  '  What  then !  Am  I 
not  a  man?  What  I  see  is  natural,  and  other  men  have  passed  under  this 
river.  Why  should  not  I  pass  there?  It  is  true  that  only  Frenchmea 
have  passed  there  and  that  red  men  do  not  undertake  the  passage ;  but  I, 
Moncacht-Ape,  ought  I  to  fear  more  than  another  man?'  '  No,'  said  I, 
in  a  low  tone,  '  I  ought  not  to  fear.'  I  descended  at  once  and  passed 
under  and  came  back.  I  passed  extremely  quick,  for  although  I  had 
buffalo's  wool  in  my  ears,  the  noise  was  so  strong  that  I  was  giddy.  I 
was  not  so  much  drenched  as  I  had  expected  to  be  before  I  went  in. 
After  having  examined  the  height  of  this  fall,  I  believe  that  the  Red 
men  speak  the  truth  when  they  assert  that  it  is  of  the  height  of  one- 
hundred  Red  men  who  are  rather  taller  than  whites.  We  were  detained 
so  long  looking  at  what  I  have  narrated  that  AVC  were  compelled  to 
camp  for  the  night  on  the  other  side  of  a  wood,  which  notwithstanding 
its  thickness  did  not  stop  the  noise  of  the  waters,  for  we  still  heard  it. 
It  is  true  that  our  ears,  although  stopped  up,  were  full  of  it,  and  for 
more  than  ten  clays  after  I  still  thought  I  heard  it. 

' '  '  The  next  day  we  took  the  shortest  path  for  the  Ohio  River.  When 
we  reached  there  we  followed  down  this  river  to  a  point  where  there 
was  no  more  wood  to  prevent  me  from  following  its  waters  to  the  great 
river  of  our  country,  which  passes  very  near  here.  This  was  the  way 
that  I  wished  to  take,  as  I  had  been  told  it  would  take  me  to  my  village. 
When  we  were  at  the  place  where  I  ought  to  take  the  water,  we  cut 
down  a  tree  of  soft  wood :  we  made  in  a  short  time  my  little  dug-out. 
In  truth  it  was  not  well  finished,  but  as  it  was  to  descend  with  the 
current,  it  was  better  than  a  light  one.  My  dug-out  being  made,  I 
shaped  a  paddle.  I  also  made  a  bark  rope.  We  placed  the  dug-out  in 
the  water  and  fastened  it  with  my  bark  rope ;  then  we  went  hunting. 
We  killed  two  buffaloes,  the  meat  of  which  we  smoked.  My  comrade 
took  his  share,  and  I  placed  the  rest  in  the  dug-out.  We  parted  with 
hearts  bound  together  like  good  friends  who  love  one  another.  If  he 
had  been  without  a  wife  and  children  he  would  have  joined  me  in  my 
trip  to  the  West  of  which  I  have  spoken. 

"  '  I  entered  my  dug-out  and  descended  at  my  ease  the  Ohio  River  to- 
our  great  river,  which  we  call  Meact-chact-sipi,  without  meeting  any 
man  in  the  Ohio  River.  I  had  not  proceeded  far  in  the  Great  River  before 


I  met  two  pirogues  full  of  Arkansas,  who  bore  a  calumet  to  the  Illinois, 
who  are  their  brothers.  Thence  I  descended  all  the  time  even  to  our 
little  river,  which  I  entered,  but  except  for  one  of  our  neighbors,  whom 
I  happily  met,  I  never  should  have  been  able  to  ascend  to  our  village.  I 
saw  with  joy  my  relations,  who  were  glad  to  see  me  in  good  health.' 

"  Such  was  the  narrative  that  Moncacht-Ap6  gave  me  of  his  jour- 
ney to  the  East,  where  he  learned  nothing  concerning  the  matters  which 
he  was  investigating.  It  is  true  he  had  seen  the  ocean.  He  had  seen  it 
in  a  state  of  agitation.  He  had  witnessed  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide. 
He  had  examined  the  famous  falls  at  Niagara,  and  he  could  talk  intelli- 
gently of  them.  All  this  could  not  fail  to  be  satisfactory  to  a  curious 
man,  who  had  nothing  else  to  do  than  travel  for  information,  to  do 
which  he  had  but  to  make  similar  expeditions  to  that  which  he  had 
made  to  the  East. 

"The  failure  of  the  steps  taken  by  Moncacht-Ape1  during  several 
years,  far  from  extinguishing  the  desire  that  he  had  to  learn,  only 
excited  him  the  more.  Determined  to  attempt  anything  to  dispel  the 
ignorance  in  which  he  perceived  that  he  was  immersed,  he  persisted 
in  the  design  of  discovering  the  origin  of  his  people ;  a  design  which 
demanded  as  much  spirit  as  courage,  and  which  would  never  have 
entered  the  brain  of  an  ordinary  man.  He  determined  then  to  go  from 
nation  to  nation  until  he  should  flnd  himself  in  the  country  from  which 
his  ancestors  emigrated,  being  persuaded  that  he  could  there  learn  many 
things  which  they  had  forgotten  in  their  travels.  He  undertook  the 
journey  to  the  West,  from  which  he  did  not  return  for  five  years.  He 
gave  me  the  following  details  the  next  day  after  he  had  repeated  to 
me  that  of  the  East : — 

"  '  My  preparations  were  made,  and  when  the  grain  was  ripe1 1  prepared 
some  provisions  for  the  journey,  and  I  departed,  following  the  high 
land  in  which  we  live  [to  the  east  of  the  river  to  the  Wabash  (Ohio)]. 
I  followed  the  stream  up  for  a  quarter  of  a  day  above  the  place  where  it 
loses  itself  in  the  Great  River  [Mississippi] ,  in  order  to  be  able  to  cross 
it  without  being*  carried  into  the  other.  When  I  saw  that  it  was  high 
enough,  I  made  a  raft  of  canes  and  a  little  bunch  of  canes  which  served 
me  for  a  paddle.  I  thus  crossed  the  Wabash  [Ohio],  and  began  my 
journey  on  the  prairies,  where  the  grass  was  but  just  beginning  to 
spring  up.  The  next  day,  towards  the  middle  of  the  day,  I  found  a 
small  troop  of  buffaloes,  which  permitted  me  to  approach  so  near  to  them 
that  I  killed  a  cow  sufficiently  fat.  I  took  the  tenderloin,  the  hump  and 
the  tongue,  and  left  the  rest  for  the  wolves.  I  was  heavily  loaded,  but 
I  did  not  have  far  to  go  to  reach  the  Tamaroas,  one  of  the  villages  of 
the  Illinois  nation.  When  I  was  in  this  nation  I  rested  a  few  days, 
preparing  to  continue  my  journey.  After  this  little  rest  I  pursued  my 
way,  mounting  to  the  North,  even  to  the  Missouri.  As  soon  as  I  was 
opposite  this  river,  I  prepared  to  cross  the  Great  Kiver  [Mississippi]  so 
as  to  arrive  on  the  north  of  the  Missouri.  To  effect  this,  I  ascended 
sufficiently  high  and  made  a  raft  as  I  had  done  to  cross  the  Wabash 
[Ohio].  I  crossed  the  Great  River  [Mississippi]  from  East  to  West. 
When  I  was  near  the  bank  I  permitted  myself  to  drift  with  the  current 
until  I  was  at  the  sand  point  where  the  two  rivers  meet.  In  descending 
upon  this  point  I  found  there  some  bustards,  which  had  no  fear  of  man. 
I  killed  one.  As  I  went  to  pick  it  up  I"  saw  my  raft,  which  I  had 
abandoned  because  I  had  no  further  use  for  it.  It  had  been  drawn 
quietly  down  by  the  current  along  the  shore,  but  when  it  reached  the 
point  where  the  two  waters  meet,  they  tossed  it  about  and  seemed  to 
quarrel  as  to  which  should  have  it.  I  watched  it  as  long  as  I  could,  for 


'Probably  when  the  corn  was  " in  the  roasting  ear." 


I  had  never  seen  waters  fight  like  that,  as  if  each  of  them  wished  to 
have  a  part  of  it.  Finally  I  lost  sight  of  it.  What  seemed  extraordinary 
to  me  and  gave  me  great  pleasure  was  to  see  the  two  waters  mingle 
themselves  together.  Their  difference  is  great,  for  the  Great  Eiver 
[Mississippi]  which  I  had  just  crossed,  is  very  clear  above  the  Missouri, 
although  below  it  is  muddy  even  to  the  Great  Water  [ocean].  This 
comes  from  the  Missouri,  whose  waters  are  always  muddy  in  all  its 
course,  which  is  very  long.  I  saw  also  that  these  two  waters  flowed 
for  a  long  distance,  side  by  side,  that  on  the  West  being  muddy,  and  on 
the  East  the  water  is  clear.  I  ascended  the  Missouri  on  the  North  bank, 
and  I  travelled  several  days  before  arriving  at  the  Missouri  nation, 
whom  I  had  some  difficulty  to  find.  I  remained  there  long  enough  not 
only  to  rest  myself,  but  also  to  learn  the  language  spoken  a  little  further 
on.  I  was  surfeited  on  my  trip  with  the  humps  and  tenderloins  of 
buffaloes  which  I  had  killed.  I  never  saw  so  many  of  these  animals  as 
in  this  country,  where  you  can  see  prairies  of  the  length  of  a  day's 
journey  and  more  covered  with  them.  The  Missouris  live  almost 
exclusively  on  meat,  and  they  only  use  maize  as  a  relief  from  buffalo  and 
other  game,  of  which  they  have  great  quantity.  I  passed  the  winter 
with  them,  during  which  so  much  snow  fell  that  it  covered  the  earth  as 
deep  as  a  man's  waist. 

"  '  When  the  winter  was  over  I  resumed  my  journey  and  ascended  the 
Missouri  till  I  arrived  at  the  nation  of  the  West.  [They  are  also  called 
the  Canzes].  There  I  gathered  information  of  what  I  wanted  to  know 
so  as  to  arrange  for  the  future.  They  told  me  that  to  go  to.  the  country 
from  whence  we  as  well  as  they  came  would  be  very  difficult,  because 
the  nations  were  far  away  from  the  Missouri.  That  also  when  I  should 
have  travelled  about  a  month,  it  would  be  necessary  for  me  to  bear  to 
my  right,  taking  directly  North,  where  I  should  find  at  several  day's 
journeys  another  river  which  runs  from  the  East  to  the  West,  conse- 
quently directly  opposite  to  the  Missouri.  That  I  should  follow  this  river 
until  I  should  find  the  nation  of  the  Otters,  where  I  could  rest  myself 
and  could  learn  more  fully  what  was  necessary,  and  perhaps  find  some 
persons  who  would  accompany  me.  For  the  rest  I  could  descend  this 
river  in  a  dug-out  and  travel  a  great  distance  without  fatigue. 

"  '  With  these  instructions  I  continued  my  route,  following  constantly 
for  one  moon  the  Missouri,  and  although  I  had  travelled  sufficiently  fast, 
I  did  not  yet  dare  to  take  to  the  right  as  they  had  told  me,  because  for 
many  days  I  had  seen  mountains  which  I  hesitated  to  pass  for  fear  of 
wounding  my  feet.  Nevertheless,  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  come  to  a 
conclusion.  Having  taken  this  resolve  for  the  next  day,  I  determined  to 
sleep  where  I  was  and  made  a  fire.  Shortly  after,  while  watching  the 
sun  which  had  already  gone  considerably  down,  I  saw  some  smoke  at 
some  distance  off.  I  did  not  doubt  that  this  was  a  party  of  hunters  who 
proposed  to  pass  the  night  in  this  place,  and  it  entered  my  mind  that 
they  might  belong  to  the  Otters.  I  immediately  left  in  order  that  I 
might  be  guided  to  them  by  the  smoke  while  it  was  yet  daylight.  I 
joined  them  and  they  saw  me  with  surprise.  They  were  a  party  of  thirty 
men  and  some  women.  Their  language  was  unknown  to  me  and  we 
were  only  able  to  communicate  by  signs.  Nevertheless,  with  the 
exception  of  their  surprise,  they  received  me  well  enough,  and  I 
remained  three  days  with  them.  At  the  end  of  this  time  one  of  the 
wives  told  her  husband  that  she  believed  herself  ready  for  lying  in. 
Upon  that  the  others  sent  this  man  and  his  wife  to  the  village,  and  told 
them  to  take  me  with  them  in  order  that  I  might  travel  by  an  easier 
road  than  that  which  I  was  on  the  point  of  taking. 

"  '  We  ascended  the  Missouri  still  for  nine  short  days,  then  we  turned 
directly  North  and  travelled  for  five  days,  at  the  end  of  which  time 


9 

we  found  a  river  with  clear  and  beautiful  water.  They  called  it 
"  The  Beautiful  River."  This  man  and  his  wife  asked  me  by  signs 
if  I  did  not  wish  to  bathe,  as  they  did,  because  it  was  long  since 
they  had  bathed.  I  told  them  in  the  same  way  that  I  also  had  great 
need  of  a  bath,  but  that  I  was  afraid  of  crocodiles.  They  made  me 
understand  that  there  were  none  here.  Upon  their  assurance  I  bathed 
and  did  it  with  great  pleasure  in  this  beautiful  water. 

"  '  We  descended  the  Beautiful  River  during  the  rest  of  the  day,  till  we 
arrived  upon  the  banks  of  a  stream  which  we  recognized  where  this 
troop  of  hunters  had  concealed  their  dug-outs.  My  guide  having  drawn 
out  his  own,  we  three  entered  and  descended  to  their  village,  where  we 
did  not  arrive  till  night.  I  was  as  well  received  by  this  nation  as  if  I 
had  been  one  of  them.  During  the  journey  I  had  picked  up  a  few  words 
of  their  language  and  I  very  soon  learned  it,  because  I  was  always  with 
the  old  men  who  love  to  instruct  the  young,  as  the  young  love  to  be 
instructed  and  converse  freely  with  each  other.  I  have  noted  this 
generally  in  all  the  natives  that  I  have  seen.  This  nation  was  really  the 
Otters  whom  I  sought.  As  I  was  very  well  treated  there  I  would 
willingly  have  made  a  longer  stay,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  they  also 
wished  it.  But  my  design  occupied  me  always.  I  determined  to  leave 
with  some  of  this  people  who  were  going  to  carry  a  calumet  to  a  nation 
through  which  I  must  pass,  who,  being  brothers  of  those  whom  I  was 
about  to  quit,  spoke  the  same  language  with  some  slight  differences.  I 
parted  then  with  the  Otters,  and  we  descended  the  "  Beautiful  River  "  in 
a  pirogue  for  eighteen  days,  putting  on  shore  from  time  to  time 
to  hunt,  and  we  did  not  want  for  game.  I  should  have  liked  to 
push  on  further,  following  always  the  "Beautiful  River,"  for  I  did  not 
become  fatigued  in  the  pirogue,  but  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  yield  to 
the  reasons  opposed  to  it.  They  told  me  that  the  heat  was  already 
great,  that  the  grass  was  high  and  the  serpents  dangerous  in  this  season, 
and  that  I  might  be  bitten  in  going  to  the  chase,  and  that  moreover  it 
was  necessary  that  I  should  learn  the  language  of  the  nation  where  I 
wished  to  go,  which  would  be  much  easier  when  I  should  know  that  of 
the  country  where  I  was.  I  followed  the  advice  that  the  old  men  of 
this  nation  gave  me  with  the  less  hesitation  that  I  saw  that  their  hearts 
and  their  mouths  spoke  together.  They  loved  me  and  I  did  not  go 
to  the  chase  except  for  amusement.  During  the  winter  that  I  passed 
with  them,  I  set  myself  to  work  to  learn  the  language  of  the  people 
where  I  intended  to  go,  because  with  it  they  assured  me  that  I  could 
make  myself  understood  by  all  the  people  that  I  should  find  from  that 
point  to  the  "  Great  Water,"  which  is  at  the  West,  the  difference 
between  their  languages  not  being  great. 

' ' '  The  warm  Aveather  was  not  yet  entirely  over  when  I  got  in  a 
pirogue  with  plenty  of  breadstuffs1  [  viandes  en  farine  ]  because  these 
nations  do  not  cultivate  maize,  although  the  soil  seems  very  good. 
They  cultivate  only  a  little  as  a  curiosity.  I  had  in  my  pirogue  only  my 
provisions,  a  pot,  a  bowl  and  what  I  needed  for  my  bed,  and  if  I  had 
had  some  Indian  corn  nothing  would  have  been  wanting.  Thus,  not 
being  embarrassed  with  anything,  I  floated  at  my  ease,  and  in  a  short  time 
I  arrived  at  a  very  small  nation,  who  were  surprised  to  see  me  arrive 
alone.  This  tribe  wear  long  hair  and  look  upon  those  who  wear  short 
as  slaves,  whose  hair  has  been  cut  in  order  that  they  may  be  recog- 
nized. The  chief  of  this  tribe,  who  was  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  said 


aU.  S.  G.  and  G.  Survey,  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology, 
vol.  I.,  193.    Tribes  of  Western  Washington  and  Northeastern  Oregon, 
by  George  Gibbs,  M.D.     The  roots  used  [for  food]  are  numerous;  but 
the  wappatu,  or  saggittaria,  and  the  kamas  are  the  principal. 
2 


10 

brusquely  to  me :  '  Who  are  you?  Where  do  you  come  from?  What  do 
you  want  here  with  your  short  hair?'  I  said  to  Mm,  '  I  am  Moncacht- 
Ap§ ;  I  come  from  the  nation  of  the  Otters.  I  am  in  search  of  informa- 
tion, and  I  come  to  you  for  you  to  give  it ;  my  hair  is  short  so  that  it 
may  not  bother  me,  but  my  courage  is  good.  I  do  not  come  to  ask  food 
from  you.  I  have  enough  to  last  me  for  some  time,  and  when  I  shall 
have  no  more,  my  bow  and  my  arrows  will  furnish  me  more  than  I  need. 
During  winter,  like  the  bear,  I  seek  a  covert,  and  in  summer  I  imitate 
the  eagle,  who  moves  about  to  satisfy  his  curiosity.  Is  it  possible  that 
a  single  man,  who  travels  by  daylight,  makes  you  afraid?' 

"  '  He  replied  that  although  I  might  come  from  the  nation  of  the 
Otters,  he  easily  saw  that  I  was  not  of  them ;  but  that  I  could  remain 
since  I  was  so  courageous,  adding  that  he  could  not  understand  how  I 
spoke  his  language,  which  none  of  the  people  east  of  there  understood. 
I  told  him  that  I  had  learned  it  of  an  old  man  called  Salt  Tear,  and  at 
the  same  time  I  re-embarked  in  order  to  go,  because  I  disliked  his 
conversation,  but  at  the  name  of  Salt  Tear,  who  was  one  of  his  friends, 
he  retained  me,  assuring  me  that  I  should  confer  a  pleasure  on  him  by 
remaining  in  his  village  as  long  as  I  was  willing.  I  came  ashore  rather 
to  learn  what  I  could  than  to  rest  myself,  for  I  was  not  satisfied  with 
his  talk.  '  What,'  said  I  to  myself,  '  when  two  bears  meet  they  stop, 
rub  nose  against  nose,  mutter  some  sounds  that  they  understand  without 
doubt,  and  seem  to  caress  each  other,  and  here  men  speak  rudely  to  each 
other.'  Being  then  disembarked  I  told  him  that  Salt  Tear  had  charged 
me  to  see  on  his  part  an  old  man  called  "  Big  Roebuck."  It  was  the 
father  of  him  with  whom  I  was  talking.  He  had  him  called.  The  old 
man  came,  being  led  by  the  hand,  for  he  could  not  see  very  well,  and 
learning  from  what  parts  I  had  come,  he  received  me  as  if  I  were  his 
son,  took  me  into  his  cabin  and  had  all  that  was  in  my  pirogue  brought 
there.  The  next  day  he  taught  me  those  things  that  I  wished  to  know, 
and  assured  me  that  all  the  nations  on  the  shores  of  the  Great  Water 
would  receive  me  well  on  telling  them  that  I  was  the  friend  of  Big 
Roebuck.  I  remained  there  only  two  days,  during  which  he  caused  to 
be  made  some  gruel  from  certain  small  grains,  smaller  than  French  peas , 
which  are  very  good,  which  pleased  me  all  the  more  that  it  was  so  long 
that  I  had  eaten  only  meat.  Having  re-embarked  in  my  pirogue,  I 
descended  the  Beautiful  River  without  stopping  more  than  one  day  with 
each  nation  that  I  met  on  my  way. 

"  '  The  last  of  these  nations  is  at  a  day's  journey  from  the  Great 
Water,  and  withdrawn  from  the  river  the  journey  of  a  man  [about 
a  league].  They  remain  in  the  woods  to  conceal  themselves,  they  say, 
from  the  bearded  men.  I  was  received  in  this  nation  as  if  I  had  arrived 
in  my  family,  and  I  had  there  good  cheer  of  all  sorts,  for  they  have  in 
this  country  an  abundance  of  that  grain  of  which  Big  Roebuck  had 
made  me  a  gruel,  and  although  it  springs  up  without  being  sowed,  it  is 
better  than  any  grain  that  I  have  ever  eaten.  Some  large  blue  birds 
come  to  eat  this  grain,  but  they  kill  them  because  they  are  very  good. 
The  water  also  furnishes  this  people  with  meat.  There  is  an  animal 
which  comes  ashore  to  eat  grass,  which  has  a  head  shaped  like  a  young 
bufialo,  but  not  of  the  same  color.  They  eat  also  many  fish  from  the 
Great  Water,  which  are  larger  than  our  large  brills  and  much  better,  as 
well  as  a  great  variety  of  shell-fish,  amongst  which  some  are  very 
beautiful.  But  if  they  live  well  in  this  country  it  is  necessary  always 
to  be  on  the  watch  against  the  bearded  mennwho  do  all  that  they  can  to 
carry  away  the  young  persons,  for  they  never  have  taken  any  men, 
although  they  could  have  done  so.  They  told  me  that  these  men  were 
white,  that  they  had  long,  black  beards  which  fell  upon  their  breasts, 
that  they  app'eared  to  be  short  and  thick,  with  large  heads,  which  they 


11 

covered  with  cloth;  that  they  always  wore  their  clothes,  even  in  the 
hottest  weather;  that  their  coats  fell  to  the  middle  of  the  legs,  which 
as  well  as  the  feet  were  covered  with  red  or  yelloAV  cloth.  For  the  rest 
they  did  not  know  of  what  their  clothing  was  made,  because  they  had 
never  been  able  to  kill  one,  their  arms  making  a  great  noise  and  a  great 
flame ;  that  they  nevertheless  retire  when  they  see  more  red  men  than 
their  own  numbers ;  that  then  they  go  aboard  their  pirogue  [without 
doubt  a  barque]  where  there  were  sometimes  thirty  and  even  more. 
They  added  that  these  strangers  came  from  where  the  sun  sets  to  seek 
upon  this  coast  a  yellow  and  bad-smelling  wood  which  dyes  a  beautiful 
yellow.  That  as  they  had  observed  that  the  bearded  men  came  to  carry 
off  this  wood  each  year  when  the  cold  weather  had  ceased,  they  had 
destroyed  all  these  trees,  following  the  advice  of  an  old  man,  so  that  they 
came  no  more,  because  they  found  no  more  of  this  wood.  In  truth,  the 
banks  of  the  river,  which  were  formerly  covered,  were  then  naked,  and 
there  remained  of  this  wood  in  this  country  but  a  small  quantity,  only 
sufficient  for  the  dyeing  of  the  people  themselves.  Two  nations,  neigh- 
bors of  each  other  and  not  far  distant  from  the  one  where  I  was,  could 
not  imitate  them  in  this  step,  because  they  had  no  other  than  this  yellow 
wood,  and  the  bearded  men,  having  discovered  this,  went  there  every 
year,  which  inconvenienced  these  nations  very  much,  as  they  did  not  dare 
go  on  the  coast  for  fear  of  losing  their  young  people.  In  order  to  drive 
them  off  thoroughly,  they  had  invited  all  the  neighboring  tribes  to 
rendezvous  with  them  in  arms  towards  the  commencement  of  the 
following  summer,  at  a  given  moon,  and  this  time  was  near  at  hand.  As 
I  told  them  that  I  had  seen  fire-arms  and  was  not  afraid  of  them,  these 
people  invited  me  to  go  with  them,  saying  that  these  two  nations  were 
on  the  route  that  I  must  take  to  go  to  the  country  from  which  we  came, 
and  for  the  rest  there  would  be  so  many  red  men  that  they  would  easily 
destroy  the  bearded  men,  which  would  hinder  others  from  coining.  I 
replied  that  my  heart  found  that  it  was  good  that  I  should  go  with 
them,  and  in  acting  thus  I  had  a  desire  that  I  wished  to  satisfy.  I  was 
anxious  to  see  these  bearded  men,  who  did  not  resemble  French,  English 
nor  Spaniards,  such  as  I  had  seen,  all  of  whom  trim  their  beards  and  are 
differently  clothed.  My  cheerful  assent  created  much  pleasure  among 
these  tribes,  who  thought  with  reason  that  a  man  who  had  seen  whites 
and  many  natives,  ought  to  have  more  intelligence  than  those  who  had 
never  left  their  homes  and  had  only  seen  red  men.' 

"I  told  Moncacht-Ape  to  take  a  rest  until  the  next  day.  I  gave 
him  a  glass  of  brandy  and  set  to  work  as  usual  transcribing  what 
he  had  told  me.  During  the  second  night  that  Moncacht-Ape  staid 
with  me  I  recalled  what  the  native  had  told  me  of  the  Great  Water  into 
which  the  Beautiful  River  discharges ;  I  thought  this  sea  of  which  he 
spoke  might  be  the  "  Sea  of  the  West,"  for  which  they  have  sought  so 
long.  Therefore  I  proposed  to  submit  certain  questions  to  him  before 
he  began  his  recital  of  his  journey  to  the  West.  The  next  day,  as  he 
prepared  to  continue,  I  asked  him  what  route  he  had  followed  with 
respect  to  the  sun.  When  one  travels  in  Europe  one  does  not  notice 
whether  one  goes  North,  South,  East  or  West,  because  one  follows  roads 
which  lead  where  you  are  going,  without  disturbing  oneself  with  the 
bearing  of  the  stars;  but  in  the  regions  which  are  only  sparsely 
inhabited  it  is  necessary  that  the  sun  should  serve  as  a  guide,  there 
being  no  other  way;  and  the  natives,  through  habit  and  necessity, 
observe  closely  the  bearing  of  the  sun  in  their  travels.  Thus  I  was 
assured  of  a  reply  on  Moncacht-ApS's  part. 

"He  answered,  then,  that  in  ascending  the  Missouri  as  far  as  the 
nation  of  that  name  he  had  travelled  according  to  his  idea  between 
North  and  West ;  that  from  this  nation  to  the  Canzes  he  had  travelled 


12 

to  the  North,  and  that  after  leaving  the  Canzes,  in  following  th« 
Missouri,  he  had  always  travelled  between  North  and  West,  and  that  the 
Missouri  went  thus.  That  when  he  quitted  the  Missouri  to  go  to  the 
Beautiful  River  he  had  travelled  direct  to  the  North ;  that  in  descending 
the  Beautiful  River  he  had  always  travelled  between  North  and  West, 
even  to  the  Great  Water :  that  the  Big  Roebuck  had  told  him  that  the 
Missouri  and  the  Beautiful  River  had  their  courses  always  equally 
distant  the  one  from  the  other.  Afer  having  answered  my  questions, 
he  continued  the  narrative  of  his  travels  in  these  tenns : 

"  '  When  the  time  was  come,  I  left  with  the  warriors,  and  we  travel- 
led five  great  days'  journeys.  Being  arrived  we  waited  a  long  time  for 
the  bearded  men,  who  came  this  year  a  little  later  than  usual.  While 
waiting  I  was  shown  the  place  where  they  put  their  large  pirogue.  It 
was  between  two  cliffs  which  are  sufficiently  high  and  long,  and  are 
connected  with  the  main  land.  Between  them  flows  a  little  river  bor- 
dered with  the  trees  which  furnish  the  yellow  wood,  but  this  river  being 
too  shallow  to  permit  the  entry  of  their  large  pirogues,  they  had  a  smaller 
one  with  which  they  went  up.  They  told  me  that  the  bearded  men  would 
not  mistrust  anything,  because  the  people  all  withdreAV  two  days' journey 
from  the  spot  as  soon  as  they  perceived  them  coming  on  the  Great  Water, 
and  did  not  appear  again  until  they  had  left.  That  nevertheless  they 
were  always  watched  without  the  watchers  being  seen.  After  having 
instructed  me  in  all  these  things,  they  held  a  council  and  were  of  opinion 
that  they  ought  to  conceal  themselves  behind  these  two  cliffs,  and 
when  the  bearded  men  should  arrive,  everybody  should  cry  out  and 
draw  upon  them  to  prevent  them  from  landing.  I  had  not  spoken  at 
first,  but  finally  seeing  how  things  were  going,  I  told  them  that  although 
I  had  not  made  war  against  the  whites,  I  knew  that  they  were  brave  and 
skillful,  that  although  I  did  not  know  if  these  white  men  resembled  the 
others,  I  nevertheless  thought  that  they  (the  Indians)  would  not  do 
much  harm  in  the  way  they  proposed  to  act ;  that  by  their  plan,  if  they 
should  secure  three  or  four  scalps,  they  would  have  accomplished  a 
great  deal ;  which  would  not  be  much  honor  for  so  many  warriors,  and 
they  would  be  badly  received  on  their  return  to  their  people,  for  it  would 
be  believed  that  they  were  afraid.  I  counselled  them  to  place  two  men 
upon  the  two  cliffs  to  watch  the  bearded  men  without  their  knowledge, 
and  to  warn  us  of  their  arrival;  that  time  should  then  be  given  for  them 
to  come  ashore  to  cut  wood,  and  that  when  they  were  thus  occupied  a  party 
of  warriors  should  mount  upon  the  cliffs,  another  should  conceal  itself  in 
last  year's  underbrush,  and  the  rest  openly  attack.  It  cannot  be  doubted, 
I  added,  that  there  will  not  be  many  bearded  men  who  will  save  them- 
selves, but  when  they  wish  to  regain  their  small  pirogue,  those  concealed 
in  the  underbrush  will  kill  many,  and  when  they  approach  the  large 
pirogue,  those  on  the  cliffs  will  do  the  same.  All  the  warriors  were 
of  my  opinion,  and  were  very  glad  that  I  had  been  willing  to  come 
with  them. 

"  'We  waited  for  the  bearded  men  during  seventeen  days,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  they  were  seen  to  approach  in  two  large  pirogues.  They 
placed  themselves  between  the  two  cliffs,  where  they  busied  themselves 
in  filling  with  fresh  water,  vessels  of  wood  similar  to  those  in  which  the 
French  place  the  fire  water.  It  was  not  until  the  fourth  day  that  they 
went  ashore  to  cut  wood.  The  attack  was  carried  out  as  I  had  advised, 
nevertheless  they  only  killed  eleven.  I  do  not  know  why  it  is  that  red 
men  who  shoot  so  surely  at  game,  aim  so  badly  at  their  enemies.  The 
rest  of  them  gained  their  pirogues  and  fled  upon  the  Great  Water,  where 
we  followed  them  long  with  our  eyes  and  finally  lost  sight  of  them. 
They  were  as  much  afraid  of  our  numbers  as  we  were  of  their  fire-arms. 
We  then  went  to  examine  the  dead  which  remained  with  us.  They  were 


13 

much  smaller  than  we  were,  and  very  white.  They  had  large  heads  and 
bodies  sufficiently  large  for  their  height.  Their  hair  was  only  long  in 
the  middle  of  the  head.  They  did  not  wear  hats  like  you,  but  their 
heads  were  twisted  around  with  cloth;  their  clothes  Avere  neither 
woollen  nor  bark  [he  would  say  silk]  but  something  similar  to  your  old 
shirts  [without  doubt  cotton]  Very  soft  and  of  different  colors.  That 
which  covered  their  limbs  and  their  feet  was  of  a  single  piece.  I 
wished  to  try  on  one  of  these  coverings,  but  my  feet  would  not  enter 
it.  [The  leggings  were  bottines  which  have  the  seam  behind.  Natives 
can  not  wear  shoes  and  stockings,  because  their  toes  are  spread  so  far 
apart.]  All  the  tribes  assembled  in  this  place  divided  up  their  garments, 
their  beads  and  their  scalps.  Of  the  eleven  killed,  two  only  had  fire 
arms  with  powder  and  balls.  Although  I  did  not  know  as  much  about 
fire-arms  as  I  do  now,  still,  as  I  had  seen  some  in  Canada,  I  wished  to 
try  them,  and  found  that  they  did  not  kill  as  far  as  yours.  They  were 
much  heavier.  The  powder  was  mixed,  coarse,  medium  and  fine,  but 
the  coarse  was  in  greater  quantity. 

"  '  See  what  I  have  observed  concerning  the  bearded  men,  and  in  what 
way  the  natives  relieved  themselves  of  them.  After  this  I  thought  only 
of  continuing  my  journey.  To  accomplish  this,  leaving  the  red  men  to 
return  to  their  homes,  I  joined  those  who  lived  further  to  the  West  on 
the  coast,  and  we  travelled  always  following  at  a  short  distance  the 
coast  line  of  the  Great  Water,  which  goes  directly  between  North  and 
West.  When  I  reached  the  homes  of  this  people  I  rested  several  days, 
during  which  I  studied  the  way  that  remained  for  me  to  travel.  I  ob- 
served that  the  days  were  much  longer  than  with  us,  and  the  nights 
very  short.  I  wanted  to  know  from  them  the  reason,  but  they  could 
not  tell  me.  The  old  men  advised  me  that  it  would  be  useless  to  under- 
take to  go  further.  They  said  the  coast  still  extended  for  a  great 
distance  to  the  North  and  West ;  that  finally  it  turned  short  to  the  West, 
and  finally  it  was  cut  through  by  the  Great  Water  directly  from  North 
to  South.  One  of  them  added  that  when  young  he  had  known  a  very 
-old  man  who  had  seen  this  laud  [before  the  ocean  had  eaten  its  way 
through]  which  went  a  long  distance,  and  that  when  the  Great  Waters 
were  lowered  [at  low  tide]  there  are  rocks  which  show  where  this  land 
was.  Everyone  turned  me  aside  from  undertaking  this  journey,  because 
they  assured  me  that  the  country  was  sterile  and  cold  and  consequently 
without  inhabitants,  and  they  counselled  me  to  return  to  my  own 
country.' 

"  Moncacht- Ape  returned  home  by  the  same  route  that  he  had  taken 
in  going,  which  he  recounted  to  me  in  few  words.  After  which  I  asked 
him  if  he  could  say  how  many  days'  journeys  there  were  of  actual 
travel ;  he  told  me  that  the  Beautiful  River  being  very  swift  and  rapid 
he  had  descended  very  fast,  and  that  in  reducing  this  march  to  days' 
journeys  by  land,  he  counted  to  have  journeyed  in  all  thirty-six  moons, 
that  is  to  say  during  three  years.  It  is  true,  as  he  adfmitted,  that 
travelling  through  countries  which  to  him  were  absolutely  unknown,  he 
had  followed  the  sinuosities  of  the  Missouri,  and  if  he  had  to  return  to 
the  same  places  he  could  shorten  his  path  and  would  not  travel  more 
than  thirty-two  or  thirty-three  moons.  It  is  true  as  he  said  that  he 
travelled  faster  than  red  men  ordinarily  do,  who  generally  make  but  six 
leagues  a  day  when  loaded  with  at  least  two  hundred  pounds  burthen, 
but  as  Moncacht-Ape  carried  only  one  hundred  pounds,  or  sometimes  not 
more  than  sixty,  he  ought  to  have  made  often  even  nine  or  ten  leagues.  I 
know  myself  from  experience  in  returning  from  my  expedition  to  the 
interior,  that  not  losing  time  in  making  investigations,  my  people, 
.although  loaded,  made  nearly  ten  leagues  a  day.  Thus,  in  estimating 
his  day's  journeys  at  seven  leagues'  travel,  he  ought  to  have  made,  with 


14 

some  certainty,  at  least  eighteen  hundred  leagues.  Thus  I  reason :  He 
travelled  about  thirty-six  moons,  as  many  going  as  coming.  It  is. 
necessary  to  deduct  half  this  time  for  his  return.  At  seven  leagues  a 
day  there  will  remain  three  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  forty-eight 
leagues.  I  deduct  again  half  for  the  detours  that  he  was  obliged  to 
make,  which  were  in  great  number,  and  I  find  still  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety  leagues  that  there  was  from  the  Yazoo  to  the  coast,  which  was 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Beautiful  Kiver.  He  was  five  years  making  this 
journey  to  the  West." 

M.  de  Quatrefages  was  mistaken  in  supposing  that  he  was  the  first  to 
call  attention  to  the  ethnological  value  of  this  tale,  for  we  find  that  the 
first  volume  of  the  transactions  of  the  Literary  and  Historical  Society 
of  Quebec1  contains  a  paper  by  Andrew  Stuart,  Esq.,  which  is  entitled 
"Journey  Across  the  Continent  of  North  America,  by  an  Indian  Chief," 
etc.,  etc.  Mr.  Stuart  evidently  places  confidence  in  the  story,  for  after 
giving  a  translation  of  it  and  reciting  many  things  which  subsequent 
explorations  have  proved  to  be  true,  he  says:  "None  of  these  could 
have  been  known  to  the  Indian  chief,  and  the  general  tone  and  character 
of  M.  du  Pratz's  work  excludes  the  idea  of  his  having  fabricated  the 
story."2 

Greenhow,  in  his  History  of  Oregon,3  quotes  a  version  of  the  story  with 
the  following  endorsement :  "there  is  indeed,  nothing  about  it  which, 
should  induce  us  to  reject  it  as  false,  except  the  part  respecting  the  ships- 
and  white  men."  In  the  Revue  d'Anthropologie,  tome  4me,  1881,  M.  A. 
de  Quatrefages,4  in  the  article  to  which  we  have  already  alluded, 
reprints  LePage's  story  in  full,  explains  and  elucidates  the  obscure  por- 
tions with  voluminous  notes,  cites  a  vast  amount  of  testimony  to  show 
that  the  white  men  must  have  come  from  Lieou  Tchou  or  some  of  the 
Eastern  isles  of  Japan,  and  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  the  journey  of 
Moncacht-Apfi  was  really  accomplished,  and  that,  prior  to  the  time  when 
the  Europeans  knew  anything  about  that  part  of  the  shores  of  North 
America,  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  and  the  adjoining  shores 
were  known  aud  frequented  by  this  people. 

Let  us  examine  the  story  to  see  what  are  its  elements  of  strength  and 


1  Transactions  of  the  Literary  aud  Historical  Society  of  Quebec,  Que- 
bec, 1829,  Art.  XL,  vol.  I.,  p.  198  et  seq. 

2  As  early  as  1765   the  discussion  of  this  subject  began,  in  a  4to. 
entitled   "  Memoires   et  Observations  Geographiques,"  etc.     Par   Mr. 
*       *       *       (Samuel  Engel).     Lausanne,  1765.     This  was  accompanied 
by  a  chart  illustrating  the  theory  of  the  author  and  showing  Moncacht- 
Ape's  journey. 

3Greenhow's  Oregon,  Boston,  1844,  p.  145. 

4  The  reputation  of  M.  de  Quatrefages  probably  requires  no  endorse- 
ment in  this  country,  but  if  any  doubts  exist  as  to  the  value  of  his 
opinions,  such  language  as  this,  "  M.  de  Quatrefages  is  acknowledged 
to  be  the  most  distinguished  Anthropologist  in  France,"  used  by  Major 
Powell,  in  Science,  vol.  I.,  No.  10,  p.  290,  [633],  will  dispel  them.  See 
also  [634]  where  Major  Powell  briefly  alludes  to  the  Moucacht-Ape. 
story. 


15 

what  its  elements  of  weakness.  We  can  at  the  same  time,  perhaps, 
determine  whether  there  were  any  motives  sufficient  to  induce  a  writer 
of  that  period  to  fabricate  or  embellish  a  production  of  this 
kind.  We  must  bear  in  mind  that  LePage  du  Pratz  was  manifestly  a 
theorist  and  an  enthusiast.  To  him  the  romantic  notion  that  this  vener- 
able red  skin  was  hunting  up  a  genealogical  record,  would  be  conspicu- 
ously apparent  as  the  all-important  factor  of  the  journey,  where  the 
mention  of  such  a  motive  might  have  been  entirely  overlooked  by  one 
not  afflicted  with  the  ethnological  craze.  But  whatever  the  motive,  was 
the  journey  a  possibility?  Could  this  solitary  traveller  have  penetrated 
a  region  the  secrets  of  which  were  only  yielded  to  the  bold  assaults  of 
Lewis  and  Clark  in  1804?  Cabe§a  de  Vaca1  with  his  three  companions, 
tossed  about  from  tribe  to  tribe,  half-starved  and  terribly  maltreated, 
was  nine  years  in  working  his  way  across  the  arid  deserts  of  New  Mex- 
ico and  Arizona,  but  he  survived  his  terrible  experiences  and.  finally 
reached  a  place  of  safety  under  the  Spanish  flag  on  the  Pacific  slope. 
Col.  Dodge,  in  "Our  Wild  Indians," 2  tells  of  a  native  who  travelled 
"on  foot,  generally  alone,  from  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  and  who  afterwards  in  repeated  journeys 
crossed  and  re-crossed,  North,  South,  East  and  West,  the  vast  expanse 
of  wilderness,  until  he  seemed  to  know  every  stream  and  mountain  of 
the  whole  great  continent  west  of  the  Mississippi  river."  Capt.  Marcy, 
in  the  "Prairie  Traveller,"3  tells  of  another  "who  had  set  his  traps 
and  spread  his  blanket  upon  the  head-waters  of  the  Missouri  and  Co- 
lumbia, and  his  wanderings  had  led  him  South  to  the  Colorado  and 
the  Gila,  and  thence  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific."  The  physical 
possibility  of  the  trip  may  therefore  be  accepted. 

The  geography  of  the  lower  Missouri,  the  character  of  the  river,  the 
tribes  of  Indians,  the  animals  and  the  plants  to  be  found  there  were 
known  to  LePage  du  Pratz.  We  find  in  his  history  an  account  of  an 
expedition  by  Bourgmont  through  this  country.  Little  or  nothing  could 
have  been  known,  however,  by  him,  concerning  the  habits  or  the  modes 
of  life  of  the  Indians  living  near  the  source  of  the  Missouri,4  and  the 


1  Relation  of  Alvar  Nunez  Cabe§a  de  Vaca,  Translated  by  Buckingham 
Smith,  N.  Y.,  1871. 

2 "Our  Wild  Indians,"  Col.  Richard  C.  Dodge,  Hartford,  1882,  p.  554. 
I  wish  here  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  rendered  me  by  Mr.  Lucien 
Carr,  of  the  Peabody  Museum,  who  kindly  pointed  out  to  me  these 
instances  of  travel  and  endurance,  and  has  otherwise  materially  helped 
me  in  this  investigation. 

3 The  PraMe  Traveller,  Capt.  R.  B.  Marcy,  N.  Y.,  1859,  p.  188. 

4Hennepin,  while  a  captive  among  the  Sioux,  "  saw  Indians  who  came 
from  about  five  hundred  leagues  to  the  West ;  they  informed  us  that 
the  Assenipovalacs  were  then  only  seven  or  eight  days  distant  to  the 
Northeast  of  us ;  all  the  other  known  tribes  on  the  West  and  Northwest 
inhabit  immense  plains  and  prairies  abounding  in  buffalo  and  peltries, 
where  they  are  sometimes  obliged  to  make  fires  with  buffalo  dung  for 
want  of  wood."  Heunepin's  Louisiana,  Shea,  New  York,  1880,  p.  236. 


16 

existence  even  of  the  Columbia  river  had  not  been  established.  What- 
ever coincidences  are  found  between  the  story  and  the  facts  which 
relate  to  the  region  West  of  the  head-waters  of  the  Missouri  are  there- 
fore valuable  as  indications  of  the  probable  truth  of  the  story.  The 
astonishment  of  the  savage  at  the  absence  of  Indian  corn,  his  yearning 
for  it  after  his  meat-diet,  and  the  inadequacy  of  the  bread-stuffs l  fur- 
nished him  as  a  substitute,  are  the  natural  experiences  of  a  traveller 
over  this  waste.  Of  the  grain  used  by  Big  Roebuck  in  his  toothsome 
gruel  we  have  no  knowledge.  It  is  not  included  in  any  list  of  the  arti- 
cles of  food  of  these  Indians  in  such  a  way  as  will  enable  us  to  identify 
it.  There  are,  however,  several  varieties  of  wild  peas  in  Oregon,  which 
might  make  a  good  relish  as  a  dinner  vegetable,  and  it  is  not  impossible 
that  they  may  have  been  used  in  this  manner  in  a  limited  way.  We  have 
no  record  of  any  Indians  along  the  banks  of  the  Columbia  or  its  tribu- 
taries, who  cut  the  hair  of  their  slaves  as  a  mark  of  indignity,  but  in 
his  "  Native  Eaces  of  the  Pacific,"2  H.  H.  Bancroft  tells  us  that  "  to  cut 
the  hair  short  is  to  the  Nootka  a  disgrace,"  and  in  a  note  he  quotes  from 
Sproat's  "  Scenes  and  Studies  of  Savage  Life,"  London,  1868,  pp.  25-27, 
as  follows  :  "  The  hair  of  the  natives  is  never  shaven  from  the  head.  It 
is  black  or  dark  brown,  without  gloss,  coarse  and  lank,  but  not  scanty, 
worn  long.  *  *  *  Slaves  wear  their  hair  short."3  The 
abundant  opportunity  for  personal  observation  which  Sproat  had  dur- 
ing his  residence  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  makes  this  a  valuable  addition  to 
the  list  of  coincidences.  The  seal  does  not  come  on  shore  and  browse 
on  the  grass,  but  the  movements  of  the  animal  would  suggest  to  one 
ignorant  of  its  habits,  that  this  was  probably  what  it  was  doing ;  hence 
we  have  no  difficulty  in  identifying  the  animal  that  furnished  the  "meat 
from  the  water  "  to  the  natives.  While  it  required  no  great  imagina- 
tion to  suggest  as  probable  the  abundance  of  fish  and  shell-fish  which 
the  savage  mentions,  the  habitual  use  of  seal's  meat  as  food  could  not 
have  been  known  to  the  Indian.  Such  knowledge  was  not,  how- 
ever, absolutely  beyond  LePage's  power  of  acquisition  at  the  time 
of  the  publication  of  his  book. 

To  appreciate  the  ignorance,  at  this  time,  of  the  geographers  concern- 
ing the  region  about  the  Columbia  River,  it  is  necessary  to  establish 
approximately  the  date  of  the  interview  between  LePage  dn  Pratz  and 
Moncacht-Ape.  Following  the  date  of  LePage's  movements,  this  must 
have  taken  place  about  1725.  Moncacht-Ap6  was  then  an  old  man,  and 
the  journey  was  a  story  drawn  from  his  memory.  If  we  allow  that 


JFor  account  of  food  used  by  Indians  in  Oregon,  see  Contributions  to 
North  American  Ethnology,  Art.  by  George  Gibbs,  M.D.,  vol.  I.,  p.  193. 

2  Bancroft's  Native  Races,  vol.  I.,  p.  179.  and  note. 

3Lafltau,  in  vol.  2,  p.  51,  of  his  Moeurs  des  Sauvages,  Paris,  1724,  4to, 
says  that  Mausolus,  king  of  Caria,  compelled  the  Lycians  to  cut  their 
hair,  which  was  then  a  mark  of  servitude,  also  that  the  hair  is  cut  as  a 
mark  of  servitude  among  the  Caribs  and  the  Indians  of  the  South. 


17 

the  trip  took  place  about  1700,  we  shall  not  place  it  too  early.  We  have 
no  account  of  the  landing  of  any  white  "man  on  the  Pacific  coast  North 
of  43°  N.  prior  to  that  time.  The  only  explorer  said  to  have  penetrated 
that  region  whose  claims  have  in  any  way  been  recognized  by  posterity, 
is  Fuca.  His  discovery,  in  1592,  of  the  straits  which  bear  his  name,  is 
accepted  by  many  as  probable.  If  to  this  we  should  add  the  alleged 
discovery  by  Aguilar  of  a  river  in  45°  N.,  as  being  possibly  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia,  the  error  in  the  location  of  which  was  due  to  the 
inadequate  instruments  and  the  inefficient  methods  of  the  times,  we 
shall  then  have  extended  the  area  of  actual  knowledge  of  the  day  to 
include  all  that  could  possibly  be  claimed.  All  else  was  pure  conjec- 
ture, and  mere  speculation.  There  were,  however,  among  the  Indians, 
rumors  concerning  a  great  sea  to  the  West  and  a  great  river  flowing 
into  it,  .and  stories  about  them  were  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth, 
treading  closely  upon  facts  and  suggesting  a  foundation  in  knowledge. 
We  cannot  to-day  strip  the  embellishments  from  the  fundamental  facts 
with  certainty,  but  we  can  come  nearer  to  it  than  ever  before.  Among 
these  stories  one  finds  place  in  the  "Relation  of  1666,  "l  where  we  are 
told  that  the  "  Sioux  say  that  beyond  the  Karizi  the  earth  is  cut  off  and 
there  is  nothing  but  a  salt  lake." 

Father  Marquette,  at  the  Mission  of  the  "  Outaouacs  "  in  1669,  states 
in  his  Relation2  that  he  was  told  of  a  "river  at  some  distance  to  the 
West  of  his  station,  which  flowed  into  the  Sea  of  the  West,  at  the 
mouth  of  which  his  informer  had  seen  four  canoes  under  sail." 

Father  Dablon,  Superior  of  the  same  Mission,  in  his  Relation3  for 
the  same  year,  gives  other  details  of  the  river  and  sea,  on  which  he  was 
told  "  there  was  an  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide." 

Sagard-Theodat4  gives  some  curious  details  of  a  tribe  "  to  whom 
each  year  a  certain  people  having  no  hair  on  head  or  chin,  were  wont  to 
come  by  way  of  the  sea  in  large  ships.  Their  only  purpose  seemed  to 
be  that  of  traffic.  They  had  tomahawks  shaped  like  the  tail  of  a 
partridge,  stockings  with  shoes  attached,  which  were  supple  as  a  glove, 
and  many  other  things  which  they  exchanged  for  peltries." 

Purchas5  tells  of  a  "  friend  in  Virginia  to  whom  came  rumors  even 
there,  from  Indians  to  the  Northwest,  of  the  arrival  on  their  coast  of 
ships  '  which  he  concluded  to  have  come  from  Japan.'  " 

In  his  history  of  Carolaua,  published  in  1722,  Coxo6  tells  us  of  a  yellow 
river  called  the  Massorite,  the  most  northerly  branches  of  which  "are 


1  Relation  1666-67,  ch.  XII.,  p.  114. 

'Relation  1669-70,  Part  III.,  ch.  XI.,  p.  60. 

•Id.,  ch.  X.,p.  12. 

4  Le  grand  voyage  du  pays  des  Hurons,  F.  Sagard  Theodat,  p.  74, 
Paris,  1632.  New  ed.,  Paris,  1865 ;  and  also,  Histoire  du  Canada,  Sagard 
Th6odat,  1636;  New  ed.,  Paris,  1866,  p.  227. 

8  Purchas  his  Pilgrimes,  The  Third  part,  London,  1625,  p.  849. 

•Description  of  Carolana,  Daniel  Coxe,  London,  1722,  p.  15. 


18 

interwoven  with  other  branches  which  have  a  contrary  course,  pro- 
ceeding to  the  West,  and  empty 'themselves  into  the  South  Sea.1  The 
Indians  affirm  they  see  great  ships  sailing  in  that  lake,  twenty  times 
bigger  than  their  canoes." 

An  edition  of  the  "Relations  de  la  Louisiane  "2  [attributed  to  Chev. 
Tonti  and  by  him  repudiated],  was  published  at  Amsterdam  in  1720. 
There  is  an  introductory  chapter  in  this  edition  from  the  pen  of  an 
officer,  containing  a  description  of  the  Missouri,  in  which  the  following 
statement  occurs  :  "The  savages  with  whom  the  banks  of  this  river 
are  thickly  peopled,  assert  that  it  rises  in  a  mountain,  from  the  other  side 
of  which  a  torrent  forms  another  great  river  which  flows  to  the  West 
and  empties  into  a  great  lake  which  can  only  be,  accepting  the  truth  of 
the  statement,  the  Sea  of  Japan." 

We  have  in  the  foregoing,  evidence  of  the  character  of  information 
on  this  subject  open  to  Moncacht-Ape1  as  well  as  to  LePage,  at  the  date 
of  the  Indian's  journey.  There  was  no  knowledge  whatever  of  the 
Pacific  coast  or  the  character  of  its  inhabitants,  but  there  were  rumors 
amongst  the  natives  of  the  River,  of  the  Ocean  and  even  of  visits  from 
foreigners,  whom  the  French  Fathers  identified  with  the  Chinese  or 
Japanese. 

In  proceeding  to  examine  the  question  of  motive,  we  must  first  call 
attention  to  a  curious  fact  which  seems  to  have  been  overlooked  by 
those  who  have  referred  to  this  story  in  print.3  During  the  time 
that  LePage  was  at  Natchez  a  French  officer  named  Dumont  was  sta- 
tioned in  that  vicinity.  He  met  LePage  and  interchanged  notes  and 
observations  with  him.  In  1753  he  published  a  book  on  Louisiana 
which  contained  a  digest  of  the  Moncacht-Ap6  story,  duly  credited  to 
LePage  du  Pratz  as  authority.  This  story,  however,  has  an  entirely 
different  ending  from  the  one  already  quoted,  and  its  peculiarities 
justify  its  quotation.4  It  is  as  follows : 

"I  will  finish  what  I  have  to  say  on  Louisiana  by  some  remarks  sent 
me  by  a  friend,8  whom  I  have  cited  many  times  in  these  memoires, 
concerning  the  situation  of  the  Sea  of  the  West  and  the  means  of 
arriving  there  by  the  river  Missouri.  I  shall  permit  him  to  speak  in  this 
chapter. 

"  '  An  Indian,'  said  he,  '  from  the  Yazoos,  called  Moncachtabe,  whom 
the  French  call  the  interpreter  because  he  speaks  nearly  all  the  Indian 
languages  of  North  America,  was  brought  to  me  as  I  requested.  He 
had  been  described  to  me  as  a  man  remarkable  for  his  long  journeys. 
In  fact  he  had  made  one  of  three  years  into  Canada,  and  another  in  the 


1  The  Pacific. 

2 Relations   de  la  Louisiaue,   etc.,  par  Chev.  Tonti,  Amsterdam,  1720. 

3  Except  in  the  contemporaneous  publication  of  Mr.  Samuel  Engel, 
"  Memoires  et  observations  Geographiques,"  etc.  Lausanne,  1765. 

4 Memoires  sur  La  Lonisiane,  composfis  sur  les  Memoires  de  M. 
Dumont,  par  M.  L.  L.  M.,  vol.  II.,  p.  246,  et  seq.,  Paris,  1753. 

5  LePage  du  Pratz. 


19 

opposite  direction,  and  to  the  West-Northwest  of  America.  I  received 
him  favorably  at  my  house,  where  he  lived  some  time,  and  I  had  the 
leisure  to  engage  him  in  conversation  concerning  his  travels.  In  one  of 
these  conversations  that  we  had  together,  see  what  I  learned  of  the 
journey  that  he  made  to  the  West-Northwest.  He  ascended  the  river  St. 
Louis  [Mississippi]  to  the  Illinois.  Thence,  having  crossed  this  river 
by  swimming  or  on  a  raft,  he  began  to  travel  on  the  North  bank  of  the 
Missouri  river,  which  Sieur  de  Bourmont,  who  ascended  it  to  its  source, 
calls  eight  hundred  leagues  in  length  from  that  point  to  where  it  empties 
into  the  St.  Louis  [Mississippi].  Following,  then,  the  North  bank  of 
this  river,  MoucachtabS  arrived  at  a  nation  which  had  been  pointed  out 
to  him  as  the  nearest  to  those  whom  he  had  left,  and  he  made  a  sojourn 
there,  as  well  to  perfect  himself  in  their  language,  which  he  knew 
already,  as  to  learn  that  of  the  next  nation  in  the  direction  which  he 
wished  to  take,  for  in  all  these  nations  there  is  always  some  one  who 
knows  how  to  speak  the  language  of  the  neighboring  natives.  He  did 
this  always  in  moving  from  one  nation  to  another,  which  detained  him  a 
long  time  on  his  journey,  which  occupied  five  years.  Finally,  having 
arrived  quite  at  the  source  of  the  Missouri  river,  pursuing  constantly 
the  West-Northwest  direction,  he  visited  many  nations  situated  upon 
another  river  quite  near  to  this  last,  but  which  had  a  course  directly 
opposite,  for  he  supposes  that  it  flows  from  East  to  West  into  a  sea 
whose  name  as  well  as  that  of  the  river  the  savage  did  not  know. 
Moncachtabe  nevertheless  followed  it  for  a  long  time,  taking  always  the 
same  route,  but  he  was  not  able  to  reach  its  mouth,  for  the  last  native 
tribe  where  he  was  forced  to  terminate  his  journey  was  at  war  with 
another  living  between  them  and  the  sea.  He  wished  very  much  to  see 
it,  but  the  open  war  between  these  nations  prevented  him.  It  was 
impossible  for  him  to  learn  anything  about  it,  because  the  few  slaves 
that  this  tribe  had  captured  from  their  enemies  were  too  young  to  give 
him  any  information  on  the  subject.  Nevertheless,  the  hope  of  gaining 
perchance  some  knowledge  in  the  end,  determined  him  to  live  for  a  long 
period  with  this  tribe.  He  was  even  desirous  of  going  with  his  hosts  to 
war,  and  when  the  winter  was  come,  the  season  that  the  Indians  choose 
ordinarily  for  their  hunting  and  military  expeditions,  he  joined  the  first 
party  of  this  tribe  which  marched  against  the  enemy.  But  the  expedition 
was  not  fortunate ;  not  only  did  they  not  capture  a  single  slave,  they 
even  lost  some  of  their  own  number.  Thus  it  is  that  these  first 
expeditions  rarely  succeed  because  the  enemy  are  then  upon  their  guard. 
Moncachtabe  did  not  back  out.  He  joined  the  second  party  of  these 
savages,  which  returned  to  the  war  against  this  nation,  and  had  more 
good  fortune  this  time  than  the  first.  They  defeated  a  party  of  the 
enemy  and  took  four  prisoners,  three  men  and  a  woman  of  about  thirty- 
two  years  of  age,  who,  having  been  taken  by  our  traveller,  became  in 
consequence  his  slave.  These  four  prisoners  were  conducted  in  triumph 
by  these  savages  to  their  village,  to  be  there  burned  Avith  ceremony, 
which  was  carried  out  with  the  three  men.  As  for  the  woman 
Moncachtabe  took  her  to  his  house,  married  her  and  treated  her  kindly, 
in  the  hope  of  drawing  from  her  some  light  concerning  what  he  wanted 
to  know.  In  fact,  after  having  staunched  her  tears,  this  woman  had  the 
less  trouble  to  reply  to  the  numerous  questions  put  to  her  by  her 
husband  and  to  satisfy  his  curiosity,  because  he  showed  so  much  friend- 
ship to  her,  and  she  knew  that  he  was  not  a  member  of  the  tribe  which 
was  an  enemy  of  her  own.  See  what  she  taught  him. 

"  'The  country  where  we  live,'  said  she,  'is  only  about  two  days' 
journey  from  the  Great  Water  [that  is  to  say  the  Sea].  I  went  there 
about  four  years  ago  with  many  men  and  women  from  our  village,  to 
fish  for  those  large  shell  fish  which  serve  to  make  our  ear-rings  and 


20 

those  large  plaques  which  men  wear  at  their  breasts.  While  we  were 
engaged  in  gathering  them,  there  appeared  upon  the  great  water  a  large 
pirogue  in  which  two  or  three  trunks  of  trees  were  on  end,  from  which 
hung  something  attached  high  up  which  was  inflated.  [One  under- 
stands that  this  bad  description  can  only  mean  a  vessel  with  her  sails]. 
Behiad  this  great  vessel,'  continued  she,  '  we  saw  a  smaller  one.  [It 
was  a  barge].  This  vessel  entered  a  large  and  beautiful  river  where 
they  took  in  water,  which  they  carried  as  well  as  wood  to  the  large 
vessel.  Those  who  were  in  the  smaller  vessel  saw  us.  and  it  appeared 
that  we  mutually  feared  each  other.  For  ourselves  we  retired  under 
cover  of  a  wood  upon  a  height  where  it  was  easy  for  us  to  see  them 
without  being  perceived  ourselves.  They  were  five  days  taking  in  wood 
and  water,  after  which  they  all  returned  into  the  large  vessel,  without 
our  being  able  to  understand  how  they  could  raise  the  smaller  vessel 
into  the  large  one.  because  we  were  so  far  off.  After  that,  having  made 
to  inflate  that  which  was  suspended  high  up  in  the  great  vessel,  they 
were  borne  far  off  and  disappeared  from  our  sight  as  if  they  had  entered 
into  the  water.  As  we  had  time  during  these  five  days  that  they  were 
near  us  to  examine  them,'  added  this  woman,  '  we  remarked  that  these 
men  were  smaller  than  ours ;  having  a  white  skin ;  hair  upon  the  chin, 
black  and  white ;  no  hair  but  something  round  upon  the  head ;  they  bore 
upon  their  shoulders  garments  which  covered  their  bodies,  upon  the 
arms  being  passed  through  them,  and  these  descended  just  to  the  calf  of 
the  leg.  They  had  also  leggings  and  shoes  different  from  ours.  What- 
ever we  could  do  we  were  never  able  to  count  over  seven  in  the  small 
boat  with  a  small  boy,  without  any  woman.'  '  Such  is  in  substance,' 
added  my  friend,  '  the  reply  that  the  wife  of  Moncachtape  made  to  the 
questions  of  her  husband,'  and  upon  this  recital  I  was  very  much 
tempted  to  believe  that  this  Great  Water,  of  which  she  speaks,  might 
very  well  be  the  Sea  of  the  West  which  we  have  sought  for  so  long  a 
time." 

We  have  here  an  account  which  is  relieved  from  much  that  is  calcu- 
lated to  tax  the  credulity  of  the  reader  of  to-day.  We  are  not  called 
upon  to  explain  an  annual  visitation.  We  have  no  firearms  and  no 
powder  with  its  large  and  small  grains.  The  northwest  coast,  the  Alas- 
kan Peninsula  and  Behring's  Straits  are  left  out  of  this  account.  Who 
is  responsible  for  the  change?  LePage's  History  was  published  in  1768. 
Dumont's  "Memoires  sur  la  Louisiaue"  came  out  in  1753.  Prior  to  the 
publication  of  Dumont's  work,  LePage  had  contributed  to  the  Journal 
CEconomique  a  series  of  articles  which  he  terms  in  his  preface  an  abridg- 
ment of  his  history.  In  Dumont's  book  there  is  abundant  evidence  of 
jealousy  and  hard  feeling  towards  LePage.  He  alludes  repeatedly  to  the 
articles  in  the  Journal  CEcouomique  and  accuses  the1  writer  of  borrow- 
ing his  manuscript  and  appropriating  his  work.  While  repeatedly  speak- 
ing of  him  as  a  friend,  he  charges  him  with  blunders,  inaccuracies  and 
falsehood."  "His  friend"  had  apparently  furnished  Dumont  with 
the  information  he  had  gathered  upon  the  subjects  in  which  he  was 
interested.  These  quotations  were  inserted  in  the  Memoires  with  due 
acknowledgment  only  for  the  purpose,  we  should  judge,  of  being 
attacked  with  argument  or  ridiculed  with  satire.  We  have  no  other 


'Dumont's  Memoires,  vol.  I,  p.  113,  and  note. 
sld.,  vol.  III.,  p.  269. 


21 

clue  to  Burnout's  identity  than  what  is  furnished  in  the  book  itself. 
His  Memoires  were  edited  by  M.  L.  L.  M.,  said  to  have  been  L'Abbfr 
LeMascrier.  They  have  been  erroneously  attributed  by  some  to  Butel 
Dumont,1  a  French  lawyer  and  author  born  in  1725.  As  the  author  of 
these  Memoires  was  in  Louisiana  in  1721,*  it  is  of  course  out  of  the 
question  that  Butel  Dumont  could  have  written  the  book.  The  charge 
against  LePage  of  plagiarism,  which  is  made  in  this  book,  has  been 
accepted  by  many  as  true,  owing  to  the  similarity  of  the  contents  of  the 
two  books,  but  a  careful  examination  of  them  may  prove  that  injustice 
has  been  done  LePage  du  Pratz.  His  fantastic  theories  may  invite 
attack,  and  he  may  record  stories  repeated  to  him  by  others  which  seem 
incredible,  but  when  he  confines  himself  to  the  description  of  what  he 
himself  saw,  there  is  seldom  room  for  criticism.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  Dumont  tells  us  that  he  saw  a  rattlesnake3  twenty-two  feet  in 
length,  and  a  frog4  which  weighed  thirty- two  pounds,  we  may  well  ask 
if  it  was  in  the  region  that  we  know  as  the  Louisiana  of  that  time. 

About  the  same  time  that  these  books  were  published,  a  great  war  was 
going  on  among  the  cartographers,  a  review  of  which,  although  it  may 
not  enable  us  to  reach  an  exact  conclusion,  will  aid  us  in  comprehending 
the  relations  of  these  two  men  and  the  extent  to  which  partisan  feeling* 
might  have  been  aroused  in  such  a  contest. 

Joseph  Nicolas  De  Lisle  in  1752,  and  Philippe  Buache  in  1753,  pre- 
sented to  the  French  Academy  of  Science,  Memoires5  accompanied  by 
charts,  the  object  of  which  was  to  reconcile  the  fabulous  voyages  of 
Admiral  Fonte ;  Maldonado's  mythical  straits  of  Anian ;  the  unknown  Sea 
of  the  West,  which  occupied  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  interior  of 
our  continent  to  suit  the  geographer's  taste ;  and  the  alleged  river  of  the 
West  which  was  dotted  in  to  suit  the  fancy  of  the  engraver,  with  the 
then  recent  discovery  of  our  coast  by  Behring.  The  French  cartogra- 
phers clung  to  Fonte  and  Maldonado  with  a  pertinacity  worthy  of  a 
better  cause.  Writers  in  Russia,  Germany  and  England  took  up  the 
fight,  and  articles  were  published  in  the  scientific  works  of  the  day  and 
in  tracts  specially  devoted  to  the  subject,  in  which  these  charts  were 
ridiculed  and  unworthy  motives  were  attributed  to  the  geographers. 
"But  within  this  century,"  says  one  of  these  tracts,6  "the  French 


'Nouvelle  Biographic  Generate,  see.Butel-Dumont. 

2Dumont's  Memoires,  Preface  and  v.  II.,  p.  69. 

3 Id.,  vol.  L,  p.  109. 

4 Id.,  vol.  II.,  p.  267. 

5DeLisle's  Explication  de  la  carte  des  Nouvelles  decouvertes,  etc., 
Paris,  1752.  Buache's  Considerations  Geographiques,  etc.,  Paris,  1753. 
I  desire  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Justin  Winsor  in 
looking  up  the  cartography  of  the  Sea  of  the  West.  He  called  my 
attention  to  these  Memoires  for  which  my  thanks  are  especially  due. 

6  Remarks  in  Support  of  the  New  Chart  of  North  and  South  America. 
By  T.  Green,  Esq.,  London,  1753,  p.  22. 


22 

geographers  have  wholly  omitted  New  Albion,  and  converted  Port  Sir 
Francis  Drake  into  Port  San  Francisco,  dishonoring  the  name  of  the 
knight  and  changing  it  into  one  of  their  spurious  saints."  Our  two  his- 
torians, who  were  then  at  work  upon  their  books,  were  necessarily 
affected  by  this  contest.  To  take  sides  with  his  countrymen  would  have 
cost  LePage  du  Pratz  his  faith  in  Moncacht-Ape.  To  him  the  tale  of 
the  Indian,  crossing  the  country  in  search  of  the  home  of  his  ancestors, 
was  more  in  sympathy  than  were  the  wild  conjectures  about  the  sea  in 
the  heart  of  the  continent.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  measure  of 
the  breadth  of  our  continent  from  ocean  to  ocean  had  only  been  taken  at 
Mexico.  Every  league  that  the  explorers  on  the  Missouri  added  to  its 
width  was  a  surprise.  California1  was  an  island  on  many  charts  for  nearly 
two  hundred  years  after  an  expedition  sent  out  by  Cortez  had  settled  the 
fact  that  it  was  a  peninsula.  If  the  island  theory  had  to  be  abandoned, 
then  the  next  way  to  narrow  the  distance  from  shore  to  shore  was  by 
means  of  an  inland  sea.  Fuca's  inlet  and  Aguilar's  alleged  river  were 
accepted  as  entrances  to  this  theoretical  sea.  The  tales  of  the  Indians 
were  believed  to  prove  its  existence.  The  most  incredible  thing  to  the 
French  geographer  of  that  day— the  thing  which  he  was  least  prepared 
to  admit — was  the  broad  stretch  of  land  from  Nova  Scotia  to  Oregon. 
La  Hontan,  in  1705,  published  in  his  book  a  copy  of  an  Indian  map 
drawn  on  deer's  skin,  showing  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  a  river  heading 
about  where  the  Columbia  heads  and  flowing  indefinitely  West.  This 
chart  is  recognized  by  LePage2  in  the  map  which  accompanied  his 
history.  Such  a  river  might,  perhaps,  have  been  permitted  to  flow  into 
the  "  Sea  of  the  West,"  as  the  distance  from  its  source  to  its  mouth 
was  absolutely  an  unknown  quantity,  but  LePage  was  aware  and  admits 
the  fact,3  that  belief  in  Moncacht-Apfe's  tale  involved  giving  up  this 
favorite  speculation  of  the  French  geographers.  He  thus  was  com- 
pelled to  take  the  opposite  side  in  this  controversy  from  that  maintained 
by  the  "  Premier  Geographer  of  the  King  of  France,  and  one  of  the 
most  eminent  Astronomers  of  the  Academy  of  Science."4 


1  Remarks  in  Support  of  the  New  Chart  of  North  and  South  America. 
By  T.  Green,  Esq.,  London,  1753,  p.  22. 

2 LePage  du  Pratz.  Histoire  de  la  Louisiane,  Vol.  III.,  pp.  138,  139, 
note.  La  Hontan's  chart  is  there  alluded  to  with  the  statement  that  this 
river  must  have  been  the  one  which  Moncacht-Ap6  descended  to  the 
"  Sea  of  the  South  or  Pacific." 

3 Histoire  de  la  Louisiane,  Vol.  III.,  p.  138.  Speaking  of  the  Sea  of 
the  West  of  the  cartographers,  he  says,  "For  my  part  I  am  strongly 
impelled  to  believe  that  it  exists  only  in  imagination."  Same,  p.  137 : 
"  I  can  not  persuade  myself  otherwise  than  that  he  travelled  upon  the 
shores  of  the  Sea  of  the  South,  of  which  the  northern  part  may  be  called 
if  you  wish,  the  Sea  of  the  West.  Same,  p.  139  :  "  This  beautiful  river 
falls  into  the  sea,  at  the  west,  .  .  .  which  by  this  account  indicates  only 
the  Sea  of  the  South  or  Pacific  Ocean." 

4  Remarks  in  Support  of  the  New  Chart  of  North  and  South  America. 
ByT.  Green,  Esq.,  London,  1753,  p.  46. 


23 

Dumont  ranged  himself  with  his  countrymen.  He  had  written  to 
Buache1  a  letter  in  which  he  expressed  opinions  on  the  subject  similar 
to  those  which  may  be  found  in  his  book.  His  opinion  is  also  plainly 
shown  in  the  following  extract,  taken  from  his  book,  which  immediately 
follows  the  Indian's  story:2  "  Whatever  one  may  think  of  this  narra- 
tive of  Sieur  LePage,  which  some  perhaps  will  look  upon  less  as  a 
reality  than  as  a  bad  copy  of  Robinson,  it  cannot  possibly  suffice  to  give 
more  light  to  our  geographers  concerning  the  true  position  of  the  Sea 
of  the  West  and  the  route  to  take  to  arrive  there  through  North 
America.  To  make  this  more  certain  it  is  necessary  to  consult  the  new 
chart  of  North  America  recently  made  by  Messrs.  De  Lisle  and  Buache." 
A  change  had  come  over  the  spirit  of  his  dream  since  writing  in  his 
preface:  "his  (LePage's)  reflections  seem  just;  amongst  others,  those 
where  he  points  out  to  us  a  route  to  find  the  Sea  of  the  West  by  the 
river  Missouri,  based  upon  a  description  made  to  him  by  a  Yazoo 
Indian  known  to  the  author." 

We  find  no  trace  of  a  controversial  spirit  in  LePage's  book,3  and 
yet  we  may  rest  assured  that  the  influences  which  cost  Dumont  his 
belief  in  Moncacht-Ape's  story  would  only  fan  the  fires  of  faith  with  one 
of  LePage's  enthusiastic  temperament. 

Although  Dumont  claims  in  his  preface  to  have  known  the  Yazoo 
Indian,  still  he  credits  the  story,  as  we  have  seen,  to  LePage,  and  there 
is  enough  of  identity  to  assure  the  common  origin  of  the  two  versions. 
Their  differences,  however,  are  so  radical  that  they  cannot  be  explained 
as  the  ordinary  changes  to  which  such  stories  are  subject  in  passing 
from  person  to  person.  The  ill-will  that  Dumoiit  entertained  toward 
LePage  might  perhaps  have  furnished  an  adequate  motive  for  him  to 
have  altered  or  suppressed  the  story;  but,  in  addition  to  the  fact  that 
Dumont's  version  is  much  the  more  credible  of  the  two,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  LePage  had  recently  published  a  series  of  articles  in 
the  Journal  (Economique  and  it  is  presumable  that  he  was  on  the  spot, 
or  where  he  could  see  Dumont's  book  when  it  should  come  out,  and 
would  therefore  notice  any  changes  in  statements  attributed  to  himself 
as  authority.  With  LePage  on  the  spot  and  with  the  pages  of  a  period- 
ical at  his  command,  Dumont  might  venture  to  prod  him  with  satire  and 
comments,  but  would  scarcely  have  dared  to  falsify  him.  It  seems 
incredible  that  LePage  should  not  have  seen  Dumont's  book,  but  if  he 
did  so  his  failure  to  notice  in  his  own  work  the  references  to  himself 
with  which  Dumont's  pages  bristle,  remains  a  mystery  to  puzzle  us  still. 


Considerations  Geographiques,  etc.,  par   Philippe  Buache.     Paris 
1753,  p.  36. 

2  Dumont's  Memoires  sur  la  Louisiane,  Paris,  1753,  p.  246,  et  seq. 

3  Unless  the  following  extract  from  the  preface,  referring  to  certain 
other  Relations,  may  be  considered    as    alluding  to  some    individual, 
perhaps  Dumont:  "It  is  then  absolutely  necessary  to  destroy  these 
false  opinions  occasioned  by  these  untrue  accounts,  often  full  of  malig- 
nity and  nearly  always  of  ignorance." 


24 

The  review  of  this  partisan  controversy  and  the  proof  of  its  close 
connection  with  the  Moncacht-Ape  story  has  enabled  us  to  see  some  of 
the  sources  of  information  which  would  inevitably  have  attracted  the 
observation  of  a  geographer  during  the  interim  between  Moncacht-Ape's 
telling  his  story  and  LePage's  publication  of  his  history.  That  LePage's 
attention  was  attracted  to  the  controversy  of  the  cartographers  we 
know,1  because  he  tells  us  that  the  French  charts  show  the  possibility 
of  the  connection  of  the  land  at  the  North-west  of  America  and  the 
North-east  of  Asia,  as  suggested  by  the  Indian.  But  these  were  not  the 
only  sources  of  information  open  to  LePage  in  1758  which  have  not  been 
included  in  our  review  of  the  knowledge  which  he  might  have  obtained 
at  the  date  of  the  Indian's  story.  During  the  sixteen  years  which  had 
passed  between  the  return  to  Siberia  of  the  Behring's  Expedition  in 
17428  and  the  time  of  LePage's  going  to  press,  more  or  less  of  the 
information  gathered  by  that  expedition  had  been  furnished  to  the  public. 
The  war  of  the  geographers  as  to  the  authenticity  of  the  Fonte  and 
Maldonado  forgeries  necessarily  attracted  great  attention  to  the  report* 
of  the  men  who  accompanied  Bearing.  BuacheJ  in  his  Memoire  to  the 
Academy  seeks  to  identify  their  land-falls  with  the  Fou-Sang  of  the 
Chinese.  Among  other  things  recorded  by  the  naturalists  who  accom- 
panied the  expedition,  and  published  by  Miiller4  in  1758,  we  find  the 
facts  that  the  coast  Indians  were  in  the  habit  of  eating  seals,  and  were 
observed  to  eat  roots  which  they  had  dug  out  of  the  ground.  It  will 
thus  be  seen  that  information  upon  these  two  points  had  been  in  posses- 
sion of  European  naturalists  for  at  least  fifteen  years.  It  would  not 
have  been  remarkable  if  during  that  time  it  had  come  to  the  ears  of  a 
man  of  LePage's5  tastes,  but  on  the  other  hand  there  had  been  no  such 
publication  of  it  as  to  justify  us  in  saying  that  he  must  have  seen  it. 

The  knowledge  of  the  coast-line  discovered  by  Behring  must  have 
been  brought  to  his  attention  by  DeLisle  and  by  Buache's  charts,  and  as 
he  was  not  hampered  by  the  necessity  of  reconciling  the  actual  discover- 
ies with  the  hypothetical  maps  based  upon  the  alleged  voyages  of  Fonte 
and  Maldonado,  he  would  naturally  have  constructed  a  coast  line  which 
would  approximate  the  real  one.  If  the  coast  line  of  Siberia,  explored 


'LePage  du  Pratz,  "Histoire  de  la  Louisiane,"  Paris,  1758,  vol.  III., 
p.  136. 

2  Miiller    returned  to    St.    Petersburg  Feb.   15,   1743.      See   Muller's 
Voyages  Asia  to  America,  Jefferys'  translation,  p.  107. 

3  Considerations   Geographiques,  etc.,  P.  Buache,  Paris,  1753,  p.  47. 

4 See  Jefierys'  translation  of  Muller's  Vovages,  Asia  to  America, 
1764,  p.  90. 

5  That  he  was  in  such  close  contact  with  the  savants  of  the  period 
as  to  justify  this  belief,  would  appear  from  the  fact  that  he  says  in  his 
Preface,  that  he  was  urged  by  "  the  savants  to  reproduce  his  ethno- 
logical papers  for  the  Journal  CEconomique  in  book  form." 


25 

fcy  Behring  in  1728 ;  the  strange  coast  opposite  reached  by  Gwosdew,1  the 
navigator,  in  1730 ;  the  points  on  the  American  coast  reached  by  Behring 
in  1741,  and  the  general  trend  of  the  known  coast  below  be  plotted  on  a 
chart,  the  existence  of  the  strait  through  which  Behring  twice  sailed 
without  seeing  America  will  be  inferred  without  hesitation.  The  Rus- 
sians accepted  this  inference,  and  published  a  chart  which  was  repro- 
duced by  Jefferys  in  1764.  This  chart  closely  resembles  the  maps  of 
to-day,  and  Mencacht-Ape's  description  may  fairly  be  applied  to  it.2 

Up  to  this  point  we  have  sought  to  analyze  the  sources  of  knowledge 
of  the  historian  so  as  to  know  what  weight  the  argument  of  coincidences 
•was  entitled  to,  and  also  to  discover  if  there  was  aught  in  the  story  or 
in  its  relation  to  the  controversies  of  the  day  to  imperil  the  judgment  of 
its  writer.  It  remains  for  us  to  ask,  what  about  the  bearded  men  who 
came  habitually  to  the  coast  with  such  regularity  that  their  arrival  could 
be  predicted  within  a  few  days;  whose  purpose  was  simply  to  get  a 
cargo  of  dye-wood  and  who  had  no  expectation  of  traffic  on  these  annual 
visits  ?  If  we  admit  this  part  of  the  story  to  be  true  we  shall  have  no 
difficulty  in  accepting  the  learned  argument  of  M.  de  Quatrefages  to 
prove  that  the  foreigners  came  from  Lieou-Tchou  or  the  Eastern  Isles  of 
Japan,  but  if  we  submit  the  tale  to  a  careful  scrutiny,  it  is  not  an  easy 
one  to  believe.  There  is  no  sufficient  evidence  to  justify  the  belief  that 
the  Japanese  habitually  made  such  venturesome  voyages.  We  have 
both  record  and  tradition  of  the  arrival  of  Japanese  vessels  on  our 
coast,3  but  they  have  always  plainly  been  unwilling  visitors.  Even  if 
the  theory  that  the  Chinese  found  their  way  from  coast  to  island  and 
from  island  to  coast,  until  they  reached  the  so-called  land  of  Fou  Sang4 
should  be  accepted,  there  is  no  evidence  of  habitual  visitations.  There 
is  no  known  wood  upon  our  coast  of  particular  value  as  a  dye-wood, 
and  there  is  no  part  of  the  North  Pacific  coast  where  the  extermination 
of  a  particular  species  of  tree  would  leave  the  inhabitants  without  wood. 
The  collection  of  a  cargo  of  dye-wood  in  a  country  which  has  no  valuable 
woods  for  that  purpose,  is  not  a  sufficient  reason  for  an  annual  visit, 
and  if,  correcting  the  story  to  make  it  more  probable,  we  admit  that  the 
vessels  came  for  purposes  of  trade  as  indicated  in  the  Indian  legends, 
then  we  must  insist  upon  finding  traces  of  that  trade  along  the  coast. 
A  careful  examination  of  the  authorities  does  not  disclose  in  the  hands 


Voyages  from  Asia  to  America,  Miiller  translated  by  Jefferys,  Lon- 
don, 1764,  p.  55.  Green's  "Remarks  in  support  of  the  New  Chart,"  Lon- 
don, 1753,  p.  25. 

•Indeed  this  is  just  what  LePage  himself  says  of  it,  vol.  III.,  136: 
"  The  passage  of  the  Russians  from  Asia  to  America  where  they  landed, 
proves  to  us  that  the  coast  may  run  in  a  line  conformable  to  Moncacht- 
Ape's  story." 

'Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  April  23,  1872. 
Paper  on  the  likelihood  of  an  admixture  of  Japanese  blood  on  our  North- 
West  Coast,  by  Horace  Davis. 

4 "  Considerations  Geographiques,"  etc.,  P.  Buache,  Paris,  1753,  p.  11. 

3 


26 

of  the  Indians  evidence  sufficient  to  prove  the  existence  of  such  a  trade. 
Bodega1  in  1775,  at  Port  Trinidad,  found  some  iron  among  the  Indians, 
but  the  chronicler  of  the  expedition  reports  that  what  they  chiefly  valued 
in  traffic  "  was  iron  and  particularly  knives  or  hoops  of  old  barrels." 
Cook*  found  iron  and  brass  among  the  Indians.  Their  tomahawks  were 
made  of  stone.  Their  arrows  were  generally  pointed  with  bone.  They 
had  chisels  and  knives  of  iron;  the  latter  shaped  like  pruning-knives 
with  the  edge  on  the  back.  He  also  met  one  Indian  who  had  two  silver 
spoons,  apparently  of  Spanish  manufacture.  And  yet  he  says:3  "We 
never  observed  the  least  signs  of  their  having  seen  ships  before,  nor  of 
their  having  traded  with  such  people.  Many  circumstances  seem  to 
prove  this  almost  beyond  a  doubt." 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  evidences  of  some  sort  of  traffic  with 
outsiders  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  on  the  Northwest  coast,  Greenhow* 
cites  Friar  Penas's  journal  of  a  voyage  of  Juan  Perez,  and  also  quotes 
from  the  narrative  of  the  expedition  of  Behring,5both  of  which  expedi- 
tions, he  says,  found  knives  and  articles  of  iron  in  the  hands  of  the 
natives.  But  he  concludes  each  account  with  the  statement  that  they 
appeared  never  before  to  have  held  any  intercourse  with  civilized  people. 
The  uniform  testimony  of  the  early  voyagers  to  the  existence  of  metallic 
ornaments  and  knives  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  which  had  apparently 
been  introduced  from  outside  sources,  can  leave  but  little  doubt  of  the 
fact.  The  negative  testimony  of  Vancouver6  as  to  the  Indians  at 
Trinidad,  whom  Bodega  had  found  with  both  iron  and  copper,  but  who 
in  1798  had  neither,  must  be  accepted  as  proof  only  that  the  supply  of 
these  Indians  was  not  constant,  and  that  the  amount  owned  by  them 
must  have  been  small.  The  unfamiliarity  of  the  Indians  with  vessels 
and  the  irregularities  of  the  stock  of  these  metals,  especially  when  taken 
in  connection  with  the  silver  spoons,  would  point  to  some  inland  source 
of  supply. 

The  first  glance  at  the  Japanese  chart  brought  to  Europe  by  Kaempfer, 
a  copy  of  which  is  given  in  the  DeLisle  and  Buache  Memoires,  showing 
as  it  does  a  familiarity  with  our  coast  at  least  as  great  as  that  shown  in 
the  original  charts  of  these  cartographers,  would  suggest  that  this  was 
in  itself  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the  annual  visits  of  the  Japanese 
vessels  to  this  part  of  the  world.  The  trouble  with  the  chart,  however, 
for  this  purpose  is  that  it  shows  too  much.  The  accuracy  of  the  outlines 
of  the  Gulf  of  California  and  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  could  not  have  come 
from  Japanese  sources.  The  same  authority  that  contributed  these  out- 


1  Miscellanies  of  Daines  Barrington,  London,  1775,  pp.  488,  489. 

8  Cook's  Voyages,  London,  1784,  pp.  267,  271,  279,  282,  311,  327,  330. 

3  Id.,  1784,  p.  331. 

4Greenhow's  Oregon,  Boston  1844,  p.  116. 

5  Id.,  1844,  p.  132. 

6  Vancouver,  London,  1798,  v.  II.,  243. 


27 

lines  may  have  furnished,  and  probably  did  furnish,  the  knowledge  and 
conjectures  on  which  the  line  of  our  Northwest  coast  was  assumed  in 
this  chart. 

So  far  as  the  guns  and  the  details  with  reference  to  the  powder  are 
concerned,  the  curious  statements  of  Moncacht-Ape  may  at  some  future 
day,  when  we  shall  know  more  about  the  history  of  the  Japanese  and 
Chinese,  have  a  greater  value  than  they  possess  at  present,  as  factors  in 
unravelling  this  complicated  question.  All  that  we  can  now  say  is  that 
we  do  not  know  enough  about  the  weapons  or  the  powder  of  these 
people,  to  make  any  use  of  the  statements  in  our  attempts  to  get  at  the 
facts  of  the  story.  Moncacht-Ape  not  only  anticipated  the  knowledge  of 
his  own  day,  but  also,  as  yet,  of  ours,  for  we  have  not  learned  enough 
about  the  matter  to  say  whether  he  told  the  truth. 

One  word  as  to  the  route  of  the  Indian,  and  we  shall  be  prepared,  to 
draw  our  conclusions  from  this  protracted  discussion,  having  in  our 
review  touched  upon  the  various  points  which  we  started  to  examine. 
Moncacht-Ape  specifies  that  he  kept  up  the  North  bank  of  the  Missouri. 
Now  if  he  continued  on  the  North  bank  of  the  river  to  its  source,  his 
description  of  the  way  to  reach  the  head-waters  of  the  Columbia  and  of 
the  general  direction  of  that  river  from  that  point  is  irreconcilable  with 
what  we  know  of  its  course.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  went  up  the 
North  Platte,  which  would  agree  with  the  general  courses  he  gave,  we 
should  expect  some  record  in  the  narrative,  of  his  crossing  the  main 
river  and  taking  up  the  tributary,  for  he  spent  the  winter  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Platte,  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  Indiana 
knew  which  was  the  main  stream.  Further  he  is  particular  in  mentioning 
where  he  crossed  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  rivers,  which  favors  the 
conclusion  that  his  course  was,  as  he  intimates,  constantly  on  the  North 
bank,1  even  at  the  expense  of  making  his  account  a  little  foggy.  We 
have  seen  that  the  story  of  the  journey  was  not  only  a  possibility,  but 
we  have  occasional  records  of  men  whose  habits  of  mind  and  body  lead 
them  to  these  solitary  expeditions.  It  does  not  require  that  we  should 
accept,  nor  need  we  reject  the  alleged  motives  of  the  expedition,  but  we 
may  concede  the  probability  that  the  outline  of  the  tale  came  from  the 
Indian's  mouth.  Dumont,  who  tells  us  that  he  knew  him,  had  been 
stationed  among  the  Yazoos2  as  well  as  at  Natchez,  and  in  his  contempt 
for  Le  Page's  speculations  he  would  have  been  glad  to  denounce  the  story 
in  more  direct  terms  if  he  had  not  believed  that  there  was  some  truth  at 
its  foundation.3 

'It  is  but  just  to  allude  here  to  the  fact  that  Charlevoix  says,  a  few 
years  after  the  savage's  journey,  "All  these  natives  of  whom  I  have 
been  speaking  (The  Missouris  and  Canzes  were  included)  dwell  upon 
the  Western  bank  of  the  Missouri."  Journal  of  a  voyage  to  North 
America.  Translated  from  the  French  of  P.  de  Charlevoix,  Vol.  II., 
London,  1761,  p.  224. 

'Dumont's  Memoires,  &c.,  Paris,  1753,  v.  II.,  p.  69. 
3  This  argument  was  anticipated  by  Mr.  Samuel  Engel,  who  says,  "M. 
Dumont  who  has  given  another  relation  of  Louisiana,  in  which  he,  or  at 


28 

The  isolation  of  a  life  at  Natchez  kept  LePage's  active  brain  at  work 
upon  the  facts  that  he  had  accumulated  concerning  the  migrations  of  the 
Indians  and  their  forms  of  government.  He  framed  theories  and  then 
propounded  leading  interrogatories  which  were  better  calculated,  per- 
haps, than  he  thought  to  bring  forth  the  answers  that  he  wanted.  The 
running  commentaries  by  Dumont  in  his  Memoires  call  attention  to  this 
weakness  on  the  part  of  LePage,  and  the  conclusion  is  irresistible  that 
he  colored  the  statements  of  the  Indians,  or  the  Indians  cheerfully 
adapted  their  answers  to  his  needs. 

The  argument  of  coincidence  between  what  was  stated  by  Moncacht- 
Ap6  concerning  this  unknown  region  and  subsequent  discoveries  is  very 
properly  claimed  by  M.  de  Quatrefages  as  of  great  value.  But  if  its 
application  should  show  that  there  is  no  error  of  statement  so  long  as 
the  narrative  deals  with  regions  that  were  thoroughly  explored ;  that  it 
introduces  statements  concerning  which  we  are  incredulous  or  doubtful 
ouly  when  it  arrives  at  a  region  about  which  nothing  was  then  known ; 
and  that  in  some  of  the  more  fanciful  portions  of  the  tale  we  think  that 
we  can  trace  the  reproduction  of  legends  already  familiar  to  us  from  the 
Relations ;  if  these  are  the  coincidences  that  our  examination  establishes, 
then  our  conclusion  will  be  that  the  personality  of  LePage  has  materially 
affected  the  value  of  the  story.  To  show  that  this  is  really  so,  it  hardly 
needs  that  we  should  point  to  the  wonderful  truthfulness  of  the  story  so 
long  as  it  is  confined  to  the  East  and  to  the  lower  Missouri ;  to  the  ac- 
curacy with  which  the  course  of  that  river  is  given  where  it  had  been 
explored ;  to  the  fact  that  our  first  conflict  with  modern  explorations 
comes  at  the  point  where  the  traveller  treads  on  entirely  new  ground; 
to  the  strong  family  resemblance  between  the  bearded  men  with  their 
strange  clothing,  and  Sagard  Theodat's  smooth-faced  men  with  their 
leggings  and  shoes ;  to  the  extraordinary  differences  between  the  two 
«ndings,  in  which  many  of  the  additional  materials  found  in  the  later 
publication  correspond  closely  with  new  facts  brought  to  the  notice  of 
European  scientists  by  the  Behring's  Expedition. 

As  to  the  curious  details  concerning  the  guns  and  the  powder,  the 
only  place  to  which  we  can  look  for  their  corroboration  is  the  Orient. 
Should  research  fail  to  discover  the  use  of  similar  weapons  and  materials 
there,  it  would  stamp  this  part  of  the  story  as  a  fiction. 

In  examining  the  question  of  motive  and  responsibility  we  have 
learned  enough  of  the  cartographic  controversy  to  see  that  not  alone 
DeLisle  and  Buache  on  the  one  side  and  Green  and  Jefferys  on  the 
other,  but  that  men  from  all  parts  of  Europe  drifted  into  that  discussion. 


least  his  editor,  is  often  of  a  contrary  opinion  to  M.  LePage,  far  from 
contradicting  this  journey  of  Moncacht-Ap£  gives  an  extract  from  it  in 
his  work.  Now  M.  Dumont  has,  they  say,  lived  twenty-two  years  in 
this  country.  He  would  not  have  lost  the  opportunity  to  contradict  M. 
LePage,  if  he  had  recounted  a  fable." 

"  Memoires  et  Observations  Geographiques,  etc.     Par  M.       *      *      * 
[Samuel  Engel]  Lausanne,  1765,  p.  108. 


29 

We  have  seen  that  LePage  and  Dumont  espoused  opposite  sides,  and 
while  we  could  not  discover  in  the  history  signs  of  bad  temper,  we 
have  found  the  memoires  bristling  with  ill  will.  Thus  we  have  been 
able  to  show  a  motive  for  misrepresentation,  and  if  we  had  concluded 
that  the  Dumont  ending  was  a  forgery,  we  should  have  had  little  doubt 
that  the  rancor  that  he  showed  was  a  sufficient  explanation  of  it.  The 
presence  of  the  two  men  in  France1  at  the  time  of  the  publication  of 
the  memoires,  and  Dumont's  bold  charge  of  the  authorship  of  the  story 
on  LePage  has  served  to  fix  the  responsibility  for  the  two  endings  upon 
him.  The  fact  that  notwithstanding  the  ill-will  that  we  have  traced  to 
Dumont,  his  version  of  the  story  is  the  more  credible  of  the  two  adds 
emphasis  to  the  conviction. 

Finally,  we  fancy  that  we  may  be  able  to  account,  even  for  the 
change  from  the  smooth-faced  men  of  Sagard  Theodat  to  the  bearded 
men  of  the  story  by  showing  that  such  bearded  men  were  alluded 
to  in  the  publications  of  the  period. 

Spangberg*  in  1739  saw  on  the  northern  isles  of  Japan,  men  of  small 
stature  "  with  pretty  long  hair  all  over  their  bodies,  and  the  men  of 
middle  age  had  black,  while  the  old  men  had  grey  beards."  Ellis,3  in 
1748,  says,  describing  the  most  recent  voyage  to  Hudson's  Bay  in 
search  of  a  northwest  passage:  "The  southern  Indians  constantly 
affirm  that  a  great  ocean  lies  but  a  small  distance  from  their  country 
towards  the  Sun's  setting,  in  which  they  have  seen  ships,  and  on  board 
them  men  having  large  beards  and  wearing  caps." 

Buache4  tells  us  that  he  had  a  letter  written  March  15,  1716,  by  M. 
Bobe  Lazariste  de  Versailles,  in  which  the  statement  is  made  that  "  in 
the  land  of  the  Sioux,  at  the  head  of  the  Mississippi  there  are  always 
French  traders ;  that  they  know  that  near  the  source  of  the  river  can  be 
found  in  the  high  lands  a  river  which  leads  to  the  Sea  of  the  West; 
that  the  savages  say  that  they  have  seen  bearded  men  who  have  caps, 
and  who  collect  gold  dust  on  the  edge  of  the  Sea.5  But  it  is  a  very  long 
distance  from  their  country,  and  they  must  pass  through  many  tribes 
unknown  to  the  French." 


1  Dumont's  presence  at  this  time  may  be  inferred  from  the  language 
of  his  preface.      LePage  returned  in  1734.     He  published  some  of  his 
articles  in  the  Journal  (Economique  in  1751.     At  least  Mtiller  quotes 
from  one  of  them  in  the  September  number  of  that  year. 

2  Jefferys'  Translation,  Miiller's  Voyages  Asia  to  America,  London, 
1764,  p.  72. 

*  Ellis's  Voyage  to  Hudson  Bay,  London,  1748,  p.  304. 

4  Buache,  Considerations  Geographiques,  Paris,  1753,  p.  38. 

5  This  belief  in  the  bearded  men  and  also  in  the  gold-bearing  sands  of 
the  beaches  of  the  Pacific  finds  occasional  expression   among  these 
Hudson's  Bay  savages.      In  the  Recueil  d'Arrests,  Amsterdam,  1720, 
there  is  a  Relation  by  M.  Jeremie,  entitled  "Relation  de  la  Bale  de 
Hudson,"  in  which  occurs  this  passage.     "  The  savages  say  that  after 
h'aving  travelled  many  months  to  the  West-Southwest,  they  found  the 


30 

We  come  then  practically  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  nothing  in 
the  story  to  tax  our  credulity  if  we  are  not  called  upon  to  believe  in  the 
annual  visits  of  the  bearded  men  and  the  various  doubtful  incidents 
which  their  presence  involves.  We  have  not  been  able  to  trace  to  the 
historian  a  knowledge,  or  a  possibility  of  knowledge  of  all  the  details  of 
the  Indian's  story  which  subsequent  discovery  has  verified,  and  this 
adds  to  the  probability  that  the  journey  was  actually  accomplished,  and 
the  story  of  it  related  to  Le  Page  du  Pratz.  We  are  not,  however,  able 
to  relieve  him  from  responsibility  for  the  double  endings,  and  although 
the  general  tone  and  character  of  his  work  justify  the  high  esteem  in 
which  Mr.  Stuart1  held  it,  we  are  nevertheless  forced  to  the  unwilling 
conclusion  that  the  original  story  of  the  savage  suffered  changes  at  his 
hands. 

In  conclusion  we  express  the  hope  that  the  students  who  may  here- 
after have  access  to  Oriental  records,  will  bear  in  mind,  that  proof 
ought  there  to  be  found,  if  proof  there  be,  of  the  habitual  presence  on 
our  shores,  at  that  period,  of  the  bearded  men, — a  presence  which  we 
have  seen  indicated  in  tradition  and  story,  but  for  which  as  yet  we  have 
found  no  other  authority  than  the  helpless  wrecks  which  have  been 
borne  upon  our  coast  by  the  Japanese  current. 


sea,  on  which  they  saw  large  canoes  [these  are  ships]  with  men  who 
had  beards  and  caps,  who  collect  gold  upon  the  edge  of  the  sea  [that  is 
to  say  at  the  mouth  of  the  rivers]." — p.  12.  On  the  26th  page  of  the 
same  Relation  there  is  another  allusion  to  bearded  men  who  build  stone 
forts,  &c. 

1  Transactions  of  the  Quebec  Literary  and  Historical  Society    of 
Quebec,  Quebec,  1829,  vol.  I.,  p.  198. 


